The Lich King Of Remnant
by Drow79
Summary: An old power is stirring...something far more ancient and dangerous than Grimm or the Four Maidens. But with everyone focused on the 'Queen' will anyone notice the 'King's' return? AU. Cover art by dishwasher1910 on Deviantart.
1. The Road To Hell

**Hey everyone, this is just a fun little side project I thought I'd do. I recently replayed Warcraft 3 and then did a RWBY marathon, which is how this idea came about. I'll try to update when I can but until I finish the current arc on my other story and get out of exam hell, this isn't going to have a very big focus. Anyway enjoy…**

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 _Legends. Stories scattered through time. Mankind has grown quite fond of recounting the exploits of heroes and villains, forgetting so easily that we are remnants, byproducts, of a forgotten past._

 _Man, born from dust, was strong, wise, and resourceful, but he was born into an unforgiving world. An inevitable darkness, creatures of destruction, the creatures of Grimm, set their sights on man and all of his creations. These forces clashed, and it seemed the darkness was intent on returning man's brief existence to the void._

 _However, even the smallest spark of hope is enough to ignite change, and in time, man's passion, resourcefulness, and ingenuity led them to the tools that would help even the odds. This power was appropriately named "Dust"._

 _Nature's wrath in hand, man lit their way through the darkness, and in the shadow's absence came strength, civilization, and most importantly, life._

 _But even the most brilliant lights eventually flicker and die…_

 _This has never been more true than the Arc family and the birth of the Scourge, causing the once noble and caring royals, whom wanted nothing more than to protect their people, to be turned into hate filled killers._

 _Once the royal family in charge of the now destroyed kingdom of Lordaeron, the once peaceful and beautiful land soon found itself facing a Horde of Grimm the likes of which has never been seen before or since. The Arc family led their armies into battle after battle against the monsters and succeeded in saving the lives of thousands of their subjects, human and Faunus._

 _They were hailed as heroes of the people, champions of justice, fighters whose mere presence rallied their men to feats once thought unheard of. So powerful were they that what should have been a crushing defeat and massacre of an entire Kingdom turned into a long drawn out war of attrition as the forces of Lordaeron made the Grimm bleed for every inch of ground they took._

 _Indeed many experts believe that if the kingdom of Lordaeron had not held out for as long as it did then the other for Kingdoms wouldn't have been able to raise armies in time to combat the Grimm and been overwhelmed by the Horde. However despite the obvious success they were having at combating the Grimm, the forces of Lordaeron knew they were only delaying the inevitable, there were simply too many Grimm. For every village saved another ten were lost, for every Grimm slain another hundred took their place._

 _The Arc royal family continuously begged for aid from the neighbouring Kingdoms but was turned away every time, all wanting to keep their forces within their borders for when the Grimm finally crossed into their lands and refusing to waste their troops for a 'lost battle.'_

 _The people of Lordaeron and the Arc family were outraged by this betrayal, hatred beginning to sink deep into their hearts, which attracted even more Grimm. The human and Faunus forces of Lordaeron continued to fight as one, united in both their faith in their royal family and hatred for both the creatures of Grimm and the other Kingdoms._

 _In the wake of this news the current King of Lordaeron and head of the Arc family began searching for other methods to combat the Grimm. Shortly after this the forces of Lordaeron suffered a massive morale drop as two members of the Arc family, Joan Arc and Amber Arc, were overrun trying to defend the last port city left. The King was horrified at this news and as more and more reports of casualties came in, he continued looking through the royal archives for some answer, where he found power that supposedly even predated the Four Maidens. Desperate he began preparing the necessary rituals and spread his creations out to cities about to be claimed by Grimm, only to realize too late that everything had a price as he opened Pandora's Box and the cities turned into contaminated wastelands._

 _Suddenly to make matters worse, a disease began spreading throughout the kingdom, killing hundreds and thousands of innocents as entire towns were destroyed much like those used in the King's experiments. No one quite knows what happened next but suddenly soldiers around the country were getting reports of the dead rising from their graves, attacking anyone or anything nearby, human, Faunus or even Grimm._

 _Those towns and cities that weren't destroyed immediately were quarantined by order of the King, before the current heir to the throne, Prince Jaune Arc ordered the unthinkable._

 _The culling of Stratholme…_

 _Stratholme had been one of the few places spared the conflict between the warring factions and, along with the capital city, was one of the few places peace could still be truly found. Due to this, it was flooded with refugees, and as the newly named Plague of Undeath began to spread throughout the city…drastic actions were taken._

 _After quarantining the city, instead of helping his subjects Jaune ordered his men to leave the citizens to their fate, allowing the Undead to rampage throughout Stratholme and slaughter hundreds of men, women and even children, preparing the bait for their trap. Sure enough, the feelings of fear and hatred from the terrorized citizens drew the creatures of Grimm to the city like moths to the flame._

 _Jaune then ordered his men to retreat from Stratholme as the Undead and Grimm fought each other for dominance of the city, only for the Grimm themselves to join the ranks of the Undead as they ate contaminated bodies and drank diseased water. Upon seeing these Undead Grimm, Jaune Arc ordered all forces to engage while the Undead and Grimm were still fighting, wanting to eliminate both factions in one attack before the Undead grew too powerful._

 _The result was a resounding success and the spread of Grimm and Undead were severely crippled, and yet what should have been a time of celebration was met with stony silence as Jaune and his men burned Stratholme and its few survivors to the ground. Not willing to risk the Undead Plague spreading further while they still had Grimm to deal with._

 _The tide of Grimm and Undead had been slowed and allowed the forces of Lordaeron to rest and recuperate…and yet a bell was tolled to mark the sacrifice that had to be made for the respite. One of the few places in Lordaeron that represented hope to its people…had been razed to the ground by their own soldiers…_

 _The King quickly gather his remaining family and informed them of the true nature of the Undead that he had unwittingly unleashed, the existence of magic and the true natures of the Four Maidens. All were shocked at what their father was saying, and yet all of them could see the potential. If they could find some way to control the Undead, they would have a powerful fighting force to combat the Grimm, and later get their revenge on the other Kingdoms for abandoning them._

 _Seeing this, the King informed his children of the existence of two powerful artifacts needed to obtain control of the Undead, the Helm of Domination and the Runeblade Frostmourne. And so he sent his faithful son after these artifacts, which were meant to be hidden deep within the Grimmlands._

 _It took nearly a year of constant searching and fighting off attacks from numerous Grimm before the young knight finally found what he was looking for. Hidden deep within the caverns beneath him he found a Helm and set of powerful looking armour along with a sword buried up to the hilt in stone._

 _All were guarded by a race of arachnid-like creatures called Nerubians, they explained that they were driven to near extinction from the Grimm above and that it was said that whomever wielded Frostmourne would lead them in a quest for revenge, returning their Azjol Empire to greatness once again._

 _But not anyone could wield Frostmourne, only those with a strong enough soul, a powerful Aura, could awaken the cursed blade._

' _For whomsoever takes up this blade shall wield power eternal. Just as the blade rends flesh, so must power scar the spirit,' they warned._

 _Jaune Arc just frowned he grasped the sword, his men and the Nerubians watching with baited breath as the Prince pulled…_

 _And suddenly stumbled as the Runeblade easily slid free from the earth before the runes running along its blade started glowing a bright blue and despite being in an underground cavern everyone felt a cold wind blast into them. The Arc was then surrounded by the bright white glow of his Aura before the blue of Frostmourne's blade slowly spread out from the weapon to surround the Prince, the white light of his Aura now extremely weak._

 _Then both glows died as Jaune sheathed his new blade and turned to his observers, both his men and the Nerubians bowing before him as his eyes began glowing a smoky blue. The Prince then promised the Nerubians vengeance and the restoration of their empire if the travelled back to Lordaeron with him and aided in their battle against the Grimm and beyond, to which they happily agreed._

 _The loyal son then donned the armour before wrapping the Helm of Domination in a rag and stowing it in his pack for his father._

 _Unfortunately Jaune and his expedition had been gone for years, by the time he got back both the Grimm and Undead had spread all over the country with only the capital city remaining, which was currently under siege from both forces._

 _Upon arriving the Prince displayed just how much power Frostmourne had as he eliminated the Undead in his attempt to break the siege, an almost joyful feeling seeming to come from the sword as it greedily destroyed his opponents._

 _With the pressure on one side being relieved the rest of the defenders were able to push back the Grimm enough for Jaune and his forces to enter the Keep. He then reported to his father whom looked tired and sad as he informed his son of the deaths of the rest of his siblings, surprisingly the Prince didn't really feel anything at the news._

 _However, before he could hand the Helm of Domination over to his father the Grimm renewed their assault, and everyone saw what was thought to only be a myth. A Grimm Dragon. Thought to be extinct the Grimm Dragon were similar to their smaller counterpart the Grimm Wyvern, only these Grimm were easily twice the size and even more vicious._

 _The gigantic Grimm easily tore down the Keep's gate and walls, allowing lesser Grimm to flood into the breaches and slaughter anyone they found. The two remaining Arcs had the misfortune to be cornered by the Dragon, with the King fighting valiantly with his blade Crocea Mors. Meanwhile Jaune began slaughtering the lesser Grimm between them as he rushed to assist his father, not noticing the Grimm he slew begin to rise up again. Their once red eyes now the same blue as his own before they began attacking the other Grimm nearby._

 _However, by the time Jaune reached his father it was too late and the Prince watched as Crocea Mors, the indestructible sword said to never break as long as Lordaeron still stood strong…shattered. The King looked at his blade in shock before turning to face the oncoming teeth with a tired expression as the Dragon crushed the ruler in its jaw and swallowed._

 _The Prince looked at the Dragon before calmly walking towards it as the Grimm then turned to stare at him in silence. 'Frostmourne hungers,' whispered the Arc softly._

 _Everyone felt a soft breeze begin to blow as the Prince held Frostmourne out before him and as they looked up they saw, for the first time in the country's history, snow beginning to fall down to the earth from the grey clouds above them._

 _The siege lasted for days as the snow fell down over the once beautiful landscape, rendering it into a frozen wasteland as everything around the Kingdom lay dead, animals, plants, Grimm, Humans, Faunus, Nerubians. Only two fighters remained, the Prince and the Dragon, as they continued their fight in the ruined Keep. It would have been an epic tale of heroism if any had been alive to see it…_

 _Suddenly the long fight finally ended and the Dragon roared as it rushed towards him, only to feel its legs get trapped by ice that suddenly formed around it. Now trapped the Grimm could do nothing as it felt the Prince climb onto its back and a sharp pain pierce the back of its head…then nothing._

 _The Prince removed Frostmourne from the Grimm's corpse and slowly staggered off the body to collapse in the snow, only to see the Helm of Domination roll out of the bag and lay next to him. The Prince stared at it before a voice inside him encouraged the Prince to take it._

 _Groaning the Prince pushed himself onto his feet before grabbing the Helm and slowly stumbled towards the ruins of the throne room as he used his sword as a crutch, the dragon's corpse beginning to twitch as the winds began blowing a blizzard._

 _The Arc then collapsed onto the throne in exhaustion before he grasped the Helm and slowly put it over his head, Frostmourne's glow becoming blinding blue as Jaune's eyes did likewise. The Prince then stabbed Frostmourne into the ground as the blizzard intensified and a pulse of blue energy spread out from the Runeblade. Suddenly the Dragon's corpse rose from the ground, flesh dissolving off it as its skeleton and bone armour became visible. The Frost Wyrm then gained a blue glow around its bones and eyes as it rose to its full height and let out a bellowing roar._

 _The Prince then closed his eyes, ready to go into slumber and recover his strength as crystals began to cover him and the throne. And so sleep claimed him as his Frost Wyrm remained perched nearby, a silent guardian waiting until its master woke once more. The Wyrm then looked out over the battlefield, seeing the numerous corpses, both Grimm and otherwise slowly rising from the ground and creating a sea of blue. Standing silent and ready, waiting until their beloved master led them to get revenge on those who had betrayed them._

 _Throughout the land of Lordaeron, the blizzards began engulfing the land, shrouding it in massive storms of snow and ice that nothing living could survive in, and within that storm a silent army began growing and preparing. They would have their revenge, for they were the Scourge. And that is what they shall be, a scourge to their enemies._

 _Thus, the Kingdom of Lordaeron fell, replaced by the Icy land that is now Northrend or as the more superstitious call it, 'where Grimm fear to tread.'_

 _To this day no one truly knows what has happened in the former kingdom of Lordaeron as, despite the large number of expeditions sent, no one that has gone to that place has ever returned. While the tales of Undead are likely due to hallucinations and the 'rituals' the King committed are probably primitive bioweapons. The fact remains that this Kingdom managed to hold off the largest Grimm horde ever seen for well over eight years and eventually destroy the Grimm as well as themselves, something most modern Kingdoms that have access to powerful weapons would struggle with today._

 _It is a truly terrible fate for such a noble Kingdom, which was betrayed by its allies, Vale, Mantle, Mistral and Vacuo. But let this be a lesson for the remaining Kingdoms, no one Kingdom is strong enough to survive alone, we must stand united…or not at all…_

"Blake what are you doing?" questioned a male voice, causing Blake to snap her book shut and turn to face her 'friends.'

"Just some last minute revision on the location before we arrive," she replied, honestly.

"Don't tell me you actually believe those legends do you?" scoffed Adam as he looked out over the stolen Schnee airship. "Calm yourself my love, Northrend is the perfect place to set up a White Fang base."

"If you say so Adam," sighed Blake as she looked out at the icy tundra growing in the distance with a lingering sense of unease.

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 **Well how did you guys like the prologue chapter? Let me know what you think as well as any suggestions or any Warcraft characters you want to see and why.**


	2. Come Into My Parlour

**Okay this is a thanks for the positive response I got for the fic, you guys are great and as a reward you get another chapter much earlier than I planned to write it. Okay so to all the people reviewing anonymously, please put something down so I can identify you. As I found out in my main fic, when you have thirteen people all logged in as guests and asking different questions it can get confusing for both me and you when I respond to them.**

 **Non-human WoW characters: So there was a couple of requests to put Illidan in this but the problem is that he is a non-human character. This brings a number of problems mainly I'd have to figure out how the Night Elves a) survived this long with Grimm constantly attacking them? b) How do all of the Kingdoms react to them? c) How are non-humans treated considering the past reactions with Faunus?**

 **The Nerubians were the exception I picked because they were so influential in the Scourge and easy to do by placing them in the 'Grimmlands.'**

 **If you guys can think of any ways around those problems then feel free to suggest them, no suggestion is a bad one as I might take elements from it to make my own. Anyway, one thing that surprised me was no request for Sylvanas Windrunner, guess I won't have to worry about putting High Elves in…sweet.**

 **Response time:**

 **Kane: Some of your questions are answered in this chapter so I won't spoil it. Next magic, it won't be as common as in the Warcraft and WoW Scourge as it is much harder to do in Remnant then Azeroth but it will still be present. You are so close with you theories about later on that I really don't want to say. As for the Abominations…both will be used, thanks for the idea by the way.**

 **Raging Archon: Yeah Arthas is my favourite too, which is why I decided not to use him, don't think I could really do his character justice. Anyway, thanks for the suggestion mate.**

 **edboy4926: Nah mate I'm sure they'll be fine…**

 **Karlos1234ify: Let me put it to you this way, I was debating whether or not to make this M rating and the only reason I didn't is because I don't think I can write gory enough to warrant it. That should tell you all you need to know.**

 **Deepground SOLDIER: Don't worry I'm sure…pfft…that the Scourge…pfffft…will be understanding…BWAHAHAHA!**

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Adam and Blake frowned as they suddenly had to grasp the nearby hand railing while their airship began rocking violently, winds blasting into the two Faunus as they struggled to get to the cockpit. "What the hell is going on here?" demanded Adam as he walked into the cockpit to see it resembling a Rapier Wasp hive, people panically running from one console to the other.

The lieutenant just snapped a salute as he saw Adam and rushed over to him, "sir! A massive storm came out of nowhere, it's getting too dangerous to fly the airship. When need to land and wait until it is over."

The Bull Faunus sighed before he nodded, "alright begin looking for a suitable landing site."

Suddenly the communications officer stood up, "boss I'm receiving a distress signal from an old Atlas frequency."

"How close is it?" asked Adam.

"Not far, we could easily make it there even in this storm," replied the officer.

A grisly smirk grew on the Bull Faunus' face, "good, land nearby and ready a raiding party. I'll be leading the raid…now let's see just what Atlas has been up to here, shall we?"

Blake frowned but said nothing as Adam gestured for her to follow him and watched as the stolen Schnee airship slowly descended to the ground. Then they all saw the airship, and not just any airship but an Atlas warship, it was mostly buried in snow and ice with only the top half still visible, a large river of running water separating their airship from the buried one.

There was silence before Adam spoke up again, "well it looks like we hit jackpot, forget what I said, there's no way anyone's still alive. Blake and I shall lead a small scout team to examine the ship and find out what happened, the rest of you are to set up a base of operations. I have a feeling we're going to be here a while."

Blake stared at the derelict airship with a frown before she could have sworn that she saw a large skeletal creature flying away from it. 'No Adam's right, there's no way anything alive is left in that ship, it must have been my imagination,' she thought, trying to quieten the instincts that were screaming otherwise.

* * *

The room was silent as the massive Nerubian sat, his beetle-like chiton armour covered in spikes and blades that, added with his size, created an imposing sight that even the most hardened of Huntsman would have struggled to shake off. Suddenly the room was filled with a gust of cold wind as his companion arrived with his usual flair.

"It looks like another has fallen for your trap Anub'arak," commented a male voice, making the massive Nerubian spin to face his companion.

The Nerubian then gave the equivalent of a smile, "indeed soon we shall have more recruits, ships and weapons for our King's army."

"Some of them have their Aura unlocked," warned his companion.

"It matters not, they shall fall like the others," dismissed Anub'arak with a shrug.

His companion nodded, "very well I shall leave this incursion to you."

Anub'arak nodded before a smile spread across his face as he began his preparations, "now come into my parlour said the spider to the fly."

* * *

"Damn this thing is massive!" exclaimed one of the White Fang salvage team members.

Blake resisted the urge to tell her fellow member to shut up as she replied, "these are the Flagships for most of Atlas's military, they often hold legions of Atlesian Knights so they have to be this large."

"Okay gotta give Atlas credit, they know how to build a warship," whistled the same member.

"Yes they do, which is why we need to know how one of their strongest ships got into this position," growled Adam.

"An accident?" guessed Blake.

Adam just frowned, "not likely, not counting the durability of Atlas ship designs, their crews are always well trained and experienced, doubly so on ships of this power. They should have easily been able to deal with an accident long before it got to this point."

"So how are we going to find out?" asked Blake, curiously.

"There should be a Captain's log or Black Box in the cockpit, it should tell us everything we need to know," replied the Bull Faunus.

Blake nodded and the salvage team spent the next ten minutes searching for an entrance into the airship, the entire team breathing a sigh of relief as they found an open door. However, everyone frowned as they saw that it had been forced open with the metal door itself knocked to the ground and full of dents.

The group then cautiously entered the interior of the buried airship only to find it completely empty, no security alarm, no squad of robots greeting them with a hail of bullets, nothing. Slowly the team spread out with their weapons drawn and ready but nothing happened, it was then that Adam spotted a rifle on the ground. As the Faunus picked it up he noticed something, the clip inside it was completely empty, whoever had used this rifle had used up the entire clip before discarding the weapon, 'meaning he ran out of ammo before targets…just what the hell were these guys fighting?'

"Boss…I think you'll want to see this," shouted a shaky male voice from one of the passages leading to the main hanger, making everyone walk over to him and freeze.

"What happened here?" murmured Blake as chills ran up everyone's spines.

There blanketing the floor was literally _thousands_ of spent dust shell casings, the walls of the room pocketed in holes from dust rounds. Some of the furniture had been overturned and clearly been used to barricade the doorway they just came from. What stood out however, was the dismembered remains of numerous Atlesian Knight-130s.

"Classic Atlas military strategy, funneling enemies into wide open areas and leaving their robots to do the dirty work for them," scoffed Adam as he kicked the remains of one of the Knights. "Come on, let's keep heading to the cockpit."

The group then made their way through the pitch-black corridors of the massive airship as they continued heading to the control room, not even bothering to approach stealthily as the White Fang grunts constantly stumbled, tripped and cried out in the darkness that even their Faunus vision struggled to pierce.

"Adam something's wrong, we're close to the cockpit so we should have found a corpse of one of the soldiers or crew by now," pointed out Blake as she kept her hand on Gambol Shroud.

"That's assuming they didn't just evacuate the ship before they were boarded," replied Adam as the door to the cockpit opened and they blinked in surprise.

"I think we can safely assume that," muttered the Cat Faunus as they took in the site of blood stained cockpit with numerous bodies stacked into a pile on the corner.

Everyone had to stop themselves from vomiting, even Adam had an expression of distaste on his face as he slowly walked over to the main control of the airship and activated it. There was a soft hum as the dormant dust generators around the ship spun to life and numerous lights snapped on around them.

"Well at least the ship itself is still intact and functioning, once we dig it out of the ice we should have a nice addition to our fleet," commented Adam as he began looking through the captain's terminal, searching for the captain's log.

"Hey boss, I recognize the insignia on one of the officer's corpses. It's from the fifth fleet," announced one of the grunts as he approached the pile of bodies.

"I thought Atlas lost its fifth fleet fighting in the Grimmlands over three years ago?" replied one of the others, causing Adam to frown.

"That's what we were told," he muttered and his frown deepened as he finally found the last entry in the captain's log.

Opening it up everyone saw the main screen of the cockpit light up before a wounded man wearing a blood soaked military uniform appeared on the screen. "This is the final entry of Captain Schwarz of the Atlas navy and commanding officer of the _Redemption_ ,if you're hearing this…then it means we've failed," he began, before falling into a coughing fit as blood slowly trickled out of his mouth.

"Our Knights have all been destroyed and the last I heard from my team in the armory was that they were being overwhelmed, and we aren't doing much better. In fact, the only reason we're still alive is because these monstrosities seem to want the ship intact. They already stole the weapons from the armories of the other ships of the fleet before we lost contact with them. I shudder to think of what they plan to do with the fleet of warships themselves," muttered the recording as the White Fang watched with interest, not noticing one of the 'corpses' slowly crawling itself to one of the isolated members.

Quicker than a snake and more silent than an assassin the 'corpse' grabbed then the Faunus before covering its mouth and slicing its throat as it dragged the Faunus away into the pile of bodies. The rest of the oblivious members just flinched as the familiar feeling of being watched flooded them and they turned to the passage to see nothing but a missing White Fang member.

"You two cover that doorway, something's not right here," growled Adam getting two nods from the members as the pointed their guns down the passageway and the recording continued.

"I still remember when the General gave the fifth fleet this assignment, we all thought it would be a milk run and can you blame use? Being assigned to investigate the 'infamous' Northrend, so an expedition was lost from all the Kingdoms, so what? They were only an expedition fleet, we were an entire battle group what could have possibly opposed us?" sighed the recording tiredly, snapping Blake and Adam's attention back to them.

The man on the screen glanced at the sealed door behind him as they heard banging from the recording, "it started off normally until we crossed Northrend's border, then it was if the very land itself was against us. We were trapped by a storm that came out of nowhere, unable to fly through it we were forced to look for a landing site and wait for the storm to dissipate. Then we found a distress signal from an old Vale expeditionary ship nearby, so we decided to land near it and explore the next day."

"Thankfully our landing site was near one of the few places with running water, so we used our ships as shelters from the winds and tried to wait out the storm while exploring the wrecked Vale ship nearby. Only to find our Airships half buried in snow and most of our crew dead where they slept, it turns out the water was contaminated," frowned the Captain.

Immediately Blake and Adam exchanged horrified glances as they realized they'd made the same mistake, frantically the Bull Faunus grabbed his radio. "Home Base do you read? Under no circumstances are you to drink any natural water, it is contaminated. I repeat, DO NOT DRINK THE WATER!" shouted Adam.

There was a brief moment of silence as the group waited for a response only to get crackling static and everyone began exchanging worried expressions. "Damn it, the storm must be causing interference, you two hurry back to the base they need to be warned! Anyone who has been drinking from outside sources needs to be quarantined immediately!" shouted Adam, as two White Fang members rushed off down the corridors of the airship.

They wouldn't even make to the exit of the ship as the minute the two Faunus were out of sight a side door opened and the last thing the two members of the White Fang saw was the blue eyes of three half rotted Beowolves that bit out their jugular before they could even fire a shot. The Undead Grimm then dragged the bodies into the side room where they joined the growing piles.

Oblivious to all this Blake, Adam and the remaining members turned back to the recording as they watched the man load a pistol, "the General was right all along, there is something here. But he was also wrong, we can't beat it, not here, not in their home."

"This land…it was made by those who are dead, like its inhabitants it still remembers, it still hates, it serves their will," muttered the Captain. "The trap was laid out before us and we fell for it, hook, line and sinker. Now…"

"Now…the way is shut…and we shall all die," announced the man fearfully as large dents appeared on the sealed door before it was blown open as the recording turned to static.

"The way is shut…it was made by those who are dead," whispered the recording softly as silence filled the cockpit. "And the dead keep it…"

No one said a word as a slight shiver ran down their spines and they quickly glanced at the doorway they came from with no small amount of fear. Something was extremely wrong here, their animal instincts were constantly screaming at them to leave this place and right now many of them were thinking of doing just that.

"Adam…" muttered Blake fearfully as everyone shared another concerned glance with each other.

"Relax, you all saw how injured he was…he was probably just delirious from blood loss," reassured their leader, making relieved smiles come to everyone's faces except for Blake's.

'True his speech could have been from delirium but that still doesn't explain _how_ he got those wounds, nor _who_ it was that he was actually fighting,' thought the Cat Faunus, but she was wise enough to keep her thoughts to herself. After all Adam was only just keeping the rest of the group under control right now, and if she had realized the flaws with his argument then so had he.

The Bull Faunus then looked out of the cockpit window to see some sort of large structure in the distance, some sort of Citadel carved into the ice. "Come on, I have a feeling we're going to get to the end of this mystery over there," he replied, pointed at the structure.

Blake just shuddered as she look out over the frozen tundra and to the Citadel, looking like a crown of ice from this distance. 'Somehow Adam, that doesn't fill me with great hope,' she thought as she clutched her book on Northrend as if it were some kind of lifeline.

* * *

"You're not going to spring the trap? This is the perfect opportunity to," questioned the male voice in confusion.

"No," replied Anub'arak in a happy tone.

If his companion was able to he would have frowned, "and why not? They are heading for Icecrown Citadel, they could harm our King."

The Nerubian laughed, "do you really have so little faith in our King's power?"

"Of course not, but you also ordered the defenders to hide themselves and not interfere. So you can understand my confusion," pointed out his companion.

Anub'arak looked at the approaching party from the top of Icecrown Citadel, "I was ordered to do so myself, actually."

His companion was silent in shock, "you were _ordered_ , but that means…"

The Lich trailed off as he reached out to his King and for the first time in millennia felt a weak response from his lord. The Blue glowing Lich Lord was shocked as he turned to the Nerubian and said nothing, his joy at his King's reawakening rolling off him in waves.

Anub'arak nodded upon seeing his reaction, "that's right Kel'Thuzad, our lord is returning to us."

* * *

It had been a few hours since they'd arrived at the entrance of the massive Citadel and Blake frowned as she spotted what looked like a Skeletal Dragon statue standing over the massive doors, the light giving it the illusion of a blue glow coming from its eyes.

… _The Frost Wyrm then gained a blue glow around its bones and eyes as it rose to its full height and let out a bellowing roar…_

The Faunus shuddered as a certain passage from her book sprung to mind before she shook her head. 'It's just a statue, an incredibly detailed and realistic one, but a statue all the same,' thought Blake, trying to calm her nerves as she turned back to her comrades. As she followed them in the Faunus didn't see the 'statue's' head track her progress before it silently outstretched its wings and headed for the top of the Citadel.

Blake quickly got in front of her companions as she tried to put as much distance between her and the dragon as she could, getting a confused look from Adam in the process. The Cat Faunus just ignored the looks shot at her and began clenching and unclenching her fists, every instinct in her body screaming at her to run while she still could before the entered they main chamber of the Citadel.

"What is that?" gasped Blake as she skidded to a stunned halt, causing her companions behind her to crash into the unmoving Faunus.

"Blake, what's the problem? We need to keep moving if we want to get to the bottom of this," growled Adam as he walking over to her.

The black haired Faunus just silently pointed upwards and as her companions followed her gaze their jaws dropped, even Adam couldn't hide his surprise behind his mask as he took in the sight before him. The White Fang slowly shuffled into the massive chamber that was easily the size of two airships, none of them saying anything as they marveled at the cavern in awe.

The entire roof as well as the walls had been turned into some kind of mural carved into the very stone and had been divided into sections depending on the area. Each section depicted something different as if in a sequence of events and as Blake got closer, she noticed the numbers carved near each of the pictures.

"It's a timeline," she realized, drawing her colleague's attention.

"Blake you know something don't you?" asked Adam.

"Don't you see Adam? This is a record! A retelling of the events leading to the Fall of Lordaeron! It was real Adam, there really was a Kingdom here!" explained the Faunus with wide eyes as she slowly walked over to the first section of the mural.

The rest of the White Fang members shared a glance before they followed her while Adam frowned, "that is just a legend and you know it Blake. If there was a Kingdom here than we would have known of it, besides I doubt anything could have survived out in this wasteland for an extended period of time."

"Then how do you explain this?" she asked, gesturing to the chamber around them before taking out her book. "Look, even the writing in this book matches that on the wall!"

Sure enough as everyone stared at Blake's book, they noticed the same symbols present in the mural and book, making even Adam sigh at this irrefutable evidence. "Alright, perhaps I was wrong. So what exactly happened here? If this was a Kingdom then where are the citizens?" asked the Bull Faunus.

Blake frowned as she turned back to the mural and began examining it in greater detail, "I'll do my best but remember these are only rough translations."

The first sectioned showed clearly recognizable shapes of Grimm destroying building and killing anyone who got in their way, her eyes narrowing as she saw the symbol of horror and despair. As she moved on Blake noticed the mural change to show seven individuals with ornate weapons and armour leading their troops into battle, dead Grimm laying at their feet and the symbol for hope carved onto the armour of the seven figures.

"They were attacked…by Grimm, then seven heroes rose up to defend them," muttered the Faunus, not noticing she now had everyone's attention as Blake focused on making sense of what she was seeing before her.

Upon seeing the mural's happy change Blake thought that it would continue to the next section, only to be gravely mistaken. The Faunus' eyes narrowed and a confused frown crossed her face as she saw the carvings of ships heading towards the icons of the ancient Kingdoms. Vale, Vacuo, Mistral and even the ancient emblem for Mantle, which hadn't been used since the Kingdom was reformed into Atlas, was present. The thing that stood out most was the large symbol that was cut viciously above the emblems of each Kingdom…it was Betrayal.

"Did they try to evacuate? That would explain the ships but why the symbol? Maybe…maybe the stories were true maybe Lordaeron really was betrayed by the other Kingdoms?" she frowned, only to jump as she heard Adam speak up, forgetting that the others had even been present in her trance.

"Or maybe your book is wrong? Or maybe the symbol means something else?" he proposed with a shrug.

"I guess…" replied Blake in an uncertain tone as she returned her study of the carving.

"Blake we don't have time for this, you can examine the ruins later for now we need to keep moving," ordered Adam, impatiently as he turned to two of their fellow White Fang members.

"Grey, Lunar, you two are to secure this area until we get back, understood?" he commanded, getting salutes from the two members.

"Sir, yes sir," they cried in unison.

Adam nodded, "good keep an eye out and radio in anything unusual, no matter how small."

Blake just sighed in disappointment as she followed her companions and headed deeper into the structure, leaving the massive chamber behind them.

The two remaining White Fang members watched them go before slumping tiredly as they turned to each other. "Now what?" asked Grey.

"Let's go check out the rest of these carvings, then have a nap," suggested Lunar.

His companion just frowned as he raised his eyebrows, "didn't the boss just say to keep an eye out?"

Lunar scoffed, "oh please are you really expecting an attack from a ghost town?"

"Things haven't exactly been normal since we got here," pointed out Grey with a sigh.

"But there's been a reasonable explanation for every one of them, you guys are honestly just letting the legends of this place get the better of you," reasoned his friend.

"Yeah I guess you're right," sighed Grey as he took his mask off and slumped down on the floor with a tired expression, Lunar quickly following his example.

"Hey? You ever wonder why we're here?" asked Lunar.

And as the two relaxed and chatted, neither noticed the dull shaking of the ground as numerous pairs of blue glowing eyes appear from the passageway the team had originally come from. Throughout Northrend, a silent army began moving, and like antibodies of the country, they prepared to slaughter those who threatened their Master.

* * *

Blake and the others breathed a sigh of relief as they finally left the echoing corridors behind them and saw the weak daylight seeping in from the massive skylight in the roof. 'We must be at the top of the tower,' she realized as they heard the howling of Northrend's winds once again.

Blake then took a moment to examine the room they now found themselves in and a quiet gasp of shock escaped her. The entire cavern was covered in ice as if a massive iceberg had been hollowed out and refitted with steel beams and metal floors. Looking up she spotted numerous flags with an emblem of an Ornate sword in the centre, two frozen warhammers crossing diagonally over the top of the blade and finally a spear with a skull on ether end running horizontally across the middle of the sword.

"This can't be natural, the amount of work that must have been done to make this is incredible," muttered the Faunus.

Adam just nodded with a frown, "but that begs the question, 'why did they build it?' What could be so important that they'd go to these lengths?"

"Not what, but who," informed Blake as she spotted stairs carved into the ice leading upwards to a small platform overlooking them.

No one said a word as they silently followed her up the stairs, the sense of unease that they'd had since finding the deserted airship now growing with each step they took. Slowly but surely they climbed to the top of the platform and stood in shock at the sight that greeted them. There encased in ice was a powerful looking armoured figure slumped over his frozen throne, the ornate sword from the flag clutched tightly in one hand.

Even in his frozen state the figure created an imposing sight and as the White Fang slowly approached him, Blake could have sworn she'd seen his eyes briefly glow blue before disappearing. Once she was close enough Blake noticed a large inscription carved into the metal floor beneath her feet, causing her to frown as the Faunus brought out her book again to translate it.

"This? This is it? This is what we've been so afraid of? A frozen corpse? Ridiculous. Well at least his armour and sword looks valuable, we could probably sell it to some museum for a high price," laughed Adam as he activated his radio.

"Grey, Lunar, once you secure the area I need you to go back to camp and bring some heavy mining gear back here, over," he ordered, only for ominous static to fill the chamber as the howling winds outside rose.

"Grey, Lunar respond now! That is an order, over!" demanded Adam as they feeling of unease pressed down on them again.

"I've got a bad feeling about this…" muttered one of the White Fang grunts as he raised his gun.

"It's probably just interference, this place is a maze after all," stated Adam as he turned to five other members. "I want you all to head back to their last known position, find out what's going on here."

The five of them nodded as they began walking back down the stairs and disappeared into the darkness of the corridors, heading back to the massive cavern. The tension and unease in the room grew exponentially as the twelve remaining White Fang members waited for their friends, realizing this Adam turned to Blake as he tried to distract his men.

"So any idea on who this guy is?" he asked, gesturing to the frozen corpse.

Blake shook her head as she returned to examining the inscription, "no but I have a feeling this might give us a clue."

"What's it say?" replied Adam, curiously as the rest of the party crowded around her.

The Cat Faunus frowned as she reopened her book again and started translating the inscription, "Long live the king…May he reign...forever. May his strength…fail him never."

A strange atmosphere began to surround them as Blake's voice echoed around the room, into the numerous passages crisscrossing the structure and all around the Citadel, the silent army suddenly froze, as if in shock. The howling of the winds outside grew louder as it seemed that the weak light of the sun began dimming, and as everyone was paying attention to Blake they didn't notice the corpse's eyes began glowing a soft blue again.

"First in battle…last in retreat. Even in death..." continued Blake, oblivious to the ice around the corpse beginning to crack as his hand started twitching.

"Raise this dragon now…" muttered the Faunus in confusion, and they could have sworn they heard a powerful roar echoed over the howling winds before she continued, her voice beginning to sound monotoned.

"May his strength fail him never…May his reign last forever…" she chanted, even as Adam started shaking her shoulder and tried to get her attention, only for Blake to ignore him as she continued chanting.

"Blake, enough! Something's wrong here, come on we need to leave," he ordered, getting nods from the others only to frown as he saw her expression.

The Cat Faunus' eyes had seemed to glaze over as she kept chanting and the inscription carved into the floor began glowing with a faint blue colour. "See his power...Darken the sky..." she intoned with a blank expression as the rest of her companions started noticing the cracking ice and glowing corpse.

The White Fang members began slowly backing away as they felt the ground shake beneath them and the last of the sun's weak light finally disappeared, leaving only the blue glow from the corpse and inscription to bathe everyone in its blue glow.

"May his reign last forever…Long live the king..." whispered Blake fearfully, as the sound of shattering ice was heard and the Frozen Throne was engulfed in a bright blue light.

* * *

 **… … …**


	3. Fallen Heroes

**Hey guys, I'm nearing the end of exam period so I thought I'd upload this as a celebration. Okay first, a big thanks to everyone who gave their suggestions, they really helped. The problem with Night Elves and High Elves is their use of magic, considering magic is meant to be extremely rare and powerful in Remnant (Four Maidens). How powerful would these two races be compared to the humans? Hmm…I might just make the Maidens stupidly powerful or nerf magic…**

 **Anyway enjoy the chapter.**

* * *

 **Response Time:**

 **TheManTheyCallA: You'll see…**

 **Miko 56: What's Weiss' sister got to do with anything? Relax I'm joking I swear.**

 **MastaofBitches: I have an idea for Ner'zhul and I can say that he won't be playing the same role as he did in Warcraft. As for the world changing, yeah Jaune need to be very careful with what they do outside of Northrend. With the aura, Frostmourne devoured** _ **most**_ **of it not all of it. That's why Jaune still had a weak glow from it when he first grasped the Runeblade. I'll go into it a bit more in later chapters.**

 **Fan: Thanks for the suggestion I was thinking something similar.**

 **Noob6: Not until much later…but yes that's one of the ideas I have.**

 **Garoorar: That would be funny wouldn't it…**

 **Karlos1234ify: Indeed…**

 **Fire of the Void: Thanks man I appreciate it.**

 **Guess 123: Hmm…that could work. I'll need to read more about Pandaria first since I stopped playing around Cataclysm but so far I like that suggestion.**

 **Matrience: Death is only the beginning…**

 **DarkElucidator: There is a reason Ozpin is in the character's list for this fic.**

 **Duskrider: You're going to enjoy this chapter.**

 **DanteNaru: I forgot about the Emerald dream…that's definitely a possibility thanks.**

 **Korrd: Glad you liked the quote mate. I suppose I could use Sylvanas in that sense. The dragon's idea was a good one and I'll probably use that.**

* * *

As the bright blue light surrounding the Frozen Throne dissipated the White Fang were greeted to the sight of the armoured figure slowly getting up from his Frozen Throne. The wind's howling outside growing into a deafening crescendo as the figure began walking towards them. Blake tried to move from her position near him but found her body petrified with fright as she saw the glowing blue eyes narrow on her.

"So you are the fools who entered my domain, I suppose I should thank you for that if nothing else. Rest assured I shall grant you a quick death," informed the figure in a strange male voice, sounding as if he was talking about the weather.

"Milord there is no need for you to sully your hands with this lot, let us deal with them," requested an icy male voice, causing Blake to turn and see two sights she never thought of even in her wildest imagination.

Emerging from one of the numerous passages that opened up into the gigantic Throne room was some form of a large skeleton with a blue glow being emanated off it. His companion wasn't much better and at first Blake thought she was staring at some type of unidentified Grimm but that assumption died with the lack of classic Grimm bone armour or red glowing eyes. Instead this Arachnid like creature seemed to be something else entirely, and it scared her at what else this land could be hiding from the other kingdoms.

"You three are fairly confident despite the fact that you're outnumbered," pointed out Adam as he and the rest of the White Fang readied their weapons.

"Outnumbered?" repeated the armoured figure in amusement and they all heard numerous roars echo from the different passages, even as they saw the Frost Wyrm descend down from above and hover next to them.

Shortly after this they saw an army of Undead appear from the numerous doorways, their pale blue eyes staring up at the intruders with hate. Before White Fang members could even say anything the Frost Wyrm gave a powerful flap of its wings in their direction, the force of the winds knocking them off the platform and into the horde of Undead waiting below them.

Adam and his group had the luck to land near one of the smaller patches of Undead, however Blake was not so lucky. Since she had been separated from the rest of the group the Cat Faunus now found herself surrounded on all sides and in the middle of the Undead swarm.

Adam and his group made short work of their enemies as they fought their way towards the nearest exit, Blake had no such luck as she found herself being pressed in on all sides. Her weapons nothing but a blur as she tried to fight her way to her comrades, only for the Undead to push her back further and further.

Realizing what was going to happen Adam turned to the rest of his party whom were laying down covering fire to try and help Blake reach them. 'We can't stay here,' he sighed, knowing the only logical choice he could make.

"Everyone get back to the airship, we're retreating!" he ordered, getting shocked expressions from the party.

"What about Blake, we can't just abandon her!" cried one of them.

"I'll get her myself, we'll catch up to you after we've escaped," informed Adam as he dismembered a Ghoul and got hesitant looks from the others before they nodded and ran into the darkness.

Once the group was gone Adam gave Blake an apologetic shake of his head as he slowly backed away from the Throne room and towards the passage. "I'm sorry Blake, but I had to make a choice," he informed her coldly.

The Cat Faunus gained a shocked and betrayed look on her face as she realized what he planned to do and her eyes began watering, even as she continued fighting for her life. "Adam, please don't…" begged Blake softly, her voice breaking as she felt tears run down her cheeks.

The Bull Faunus hesitated at the cavern entrance as he saw his protégé's fearful expression and he quickly swung his head between Blake and the exit, silently determining the Cat Faunus' fate. Much to Blake's horror, Adam just sighed softly as he turned away from her and headed towards the exit, abandoning his protégé to her fate as he ran after the others.

"Blake, I'm so sorry," he muttered, quietly.

Adam didn't turn around as he heard Blake's breaking voice calling after him before abruptly being cut off, leaving the Bull Faunus alone in the silence. Eventually Adam caught up to his remaining troops as they all ran to the exit, hoping to get out of the death trap they now found themselves in.

"What happened to Blake?" asked one of them.

"She stayed behind to hold them off," lied Adam with a small flinch as the group left the Cat Faunus to her fate. "Come on, we need to get out of here. Let's not waste her sacrifice."

And so the party ran through the maze, spotting the dead bodies of their friends along the way as they headed towards the exit. As they finally made it out Adam breathed deeply, he never thought that cold winds would be something he would ever be grateful for until today.

* * *

"The Faunus are escaping shall I go after them?" asked Kel'Thuzad.

"No let them go for now, I have plans for them," ordered Jaune, getting a nod from his two Generals as the sound of clashing blades and gunshots still echoed across the Throne room.

"Is that insect still fighting? Ridiculous," muttered Kel'Thuzad in annoyance as he leveled a palm at Blake whom was struggling with a fierce ferocity to keep her attackers at bay, Undead lying in piles around her.

"Stop Kel'Thuzad," ordered the Lich King, as power began swirling around the Lich's hand.

The Lich just turned to face him with a confused tilt of his head as he lowered his hand, the immense magical energy that had been forming in his palm dissipating. "Milord?" questioned Kel'Thuzad, Anub'arak also staring at him in confusion.

"I have an experiment that I've wanted to try for some time and she is the perfect test subject, after all we all know how rare it is to encounter an individual with not just their aura but also their Semblance unlocked," answered the King.

"Actually sire, that is not true anymore. The current Kingdoms have institutions that are dedicated to raising aura warriors called Hunter Academies," replied Kel'Thuzad.

"Truly?" muttered the Lich King as he began pondering the implications of this new development.

"You have been sleeping for a long time milord, the world has changed drastically since the Fall of Lordaeron," explained Anub'arak.

"I see, it would seem you two have much to tell me," muttered the Lich King, his mind slowly digesting this information as he returned his attention to the Faunus fighting below him.

The wounds on her body were finally beginning to take their toll on Blake, her aura struggling to keep up with the constant abuse it was taking. Ducking under an approaching Undead Beowolf she preceded to decapitate what was once a Grimm, only to feel another sword slash at her arm and create a deep cut in her shoulder as her aura's protection finally gave out.

Rounding on her attacker she shot the skeleton in the head with Gambol Shroud and watched as the Undead skeletal swordsman fell to the ground, only to see it get back up with a hole in its skull but otherwise unharmed. Blake frowned as she fired her entire clip into the skeleton's head and breathed a sigh of relief as she saw it eventually fall to the ground and shatter apart.

'Guns do work on them but they're not as effective as melee,' realized Blake with a frown as she shifted her weapon back to its melee form. The Faunus then heard the sound of loud footsteps echoing from the passage behind her and only just activated her Semblance in time as the gigantic form of a fat twisted Abomination attacked the clone she had left behind, crushing the ground beneath its strike.

Blake had to keep herself from vomiting as she studied her current opponent, it almost appeared to have been made from the body parts of others as she saw flesh from different individuals poorly sown together to create skin for the Abomination before her.

Blake took a step back as she saw the green gas slowly exhale out from its mouth, the Faunus instinctively knowing to stay away from that gas. The Abomination then raised its three arms as it turned to face her with a confused frown on its face, "why u no smashed?"

If the Faunus was surprised by the Abomination's ability to speak she hid it well as its axe came swinging down towards her again. The weapon passed through another of Blake's clones as she stabbed Gambol Shroud into its eyes, blinding the monster as it began swinging its weapon around wildly.

"Me no see! ME SMASH CAT!" roared the Abomination, only to feel its third arm get cut cleanly in two followed by all his limbs.

The Abomination's bellow of rage was cut short as Blake decapitated it, the monster's bloated and dismembered body falling to the ground and growing still. Blake took a deep breath as her limbs began to ache and feel heavy, Gambol Shroud barely able to be held as she forced it back up to decapitate a Ghoul that suddenly leapt towards her.

Unfortunately, the horde wasn't going to give her time to rest as the minute the Ghoul's headless body hit the ground she heard a roar and spun around to see three rotten Ursa Majors approaching her. A laugh suddenly escaped her as she stared at the host of Undead arrayed before her, the whole situation seemingly from a story book.

Suddenly the three Undead Ursas roared as their blue glowing eyes narrowed on her form and they charged, Blake tried to dodge to the side but couldn't move in time and was sent flying into the wall from the force of the blow. The Faunus screamed out in pain as she felt the bones in her body snap from the force of the impact, her body leaving a small dent in to wall as she collapsed to the ground.

Blake was still as the three Ursas approached her, one of the former Grimm placing her throat in its jaw as it prepared to finish her off and squeezed. Only to find the Blake in its jaw vanish as the clone faded and the real Blake appeared near the exit, using the distraction to try and escape.

However, just when it seemed like Blake was home free she was forced to a halt as chains of ice erupted from the ground beneath her and wrapped themselves around the Faunus' body. Now trapped Blake could do nothing as she watched a skeletal swordsman approach her and stab its blade into her gut, causing the Cat Faunus to cough up blood as the chains around her vanished.

'Adam, you bastard…I hope there is a special place in hell reserved for you,' snarled the Cat Faunus, even as she ripped the sword from her gut and killed the swordsman with his own weapon. Blake then fell to the ground as blood spewed forth from her stomach and pooled around her, silently cursing her former comrades with every breath.

So consumed with her cursing and the pain from her wounds she didn't notice the sound of metal footsteps approaching her until the metal boot came into her fading view. The Lich King stood over her with a hand on Frostmourne and the other pointed towards her.

"Betrayal is painful isn't it? The Scourge know that pain all too well," muttered Jaune as he stared down at the corpse dying at his feet.

Upon seeing this Blake attempted to stand up once more, but collapsed back to the ground as blood poured out from the numerous stab wounds on her body. Not even her aura was able to deal with the large number of injuries she had sustained as she saw her vison become even more blurry. Jaune just silently looked at her struggling body before turning to face the numerous Undead lying dead around the Faunus, a testament to the skill of the individual before him.

"Impressive work, especially for being outnumbered to that degree. Tell me, do you fear death?" he asked, causing Blake's barely conscious body to look up at him in confusion.

Seeing this the Lich King continued, "I can save you and even grant you a chance at revenge, but in return you shall serve me, heart, body and soul. You will no longer be like the others, you will be like us. Monsters to everyone around you. So what will you choose Faunus?"

Blake used the last of her strength to look at the armoured figure in his blue glowing eyes, revealing her deep determination hidden behind those amber orbs. A soft croak escaped her as she tried to speak through her blood clogged throat, her heart's beat barely felt as the muscle began to fail. Jaune just stared down at her before nodding in apparent satisfaction as Necrotic energies began swirling around his hand.

"So be it, welcome to the family…Champion of the Scourge," he announced as the Necrotic energies swirling around him were push into Blake's body before a low chuckle escaped him. "Not that you really had a choice anyway."

* * *

"Where is everyone?" muttered one of the surviving White Fang members fearfully as the group finally reached their airship, expecting to see it a buzzing with activity from the other members that were left behind.

"Stay alert everyone," ordered Adam as he grabbed his weapon's hilt comfortingly.

The group nodded as they entered the stolen Schnee airship and were stunned as they saw dead bodies lying all around them.

The Faunus then lead his team though the halls of their airship, checking every corpse for signs of life only to find none. Or so they thought…

It happened fasted than anyone could blink but as one of the White Fang members began checking another body, the 'corpse' suddenly grabbed his neck before snapping it. The remaining White Fang members just stood in shock as they saw their friend fall to the ground, an expression of surprise still etched into his face. Then they saw the 'corpse' of the White Fang begin mutating into the familiar shape of a Ghoul, the Plague of Undeath finally activating at the command of its master.

Adam was the first to recover from his shock as he rushed over to the Ghoul and bisected it with a powerful slash of his sword. However, the party then heard the sounds of growling and snarling behind them as more bodies of the fallen White Fang members began to mutate from the vile necrotic magic.

"We don't have time for this. Everyone forget them, we have to get to the bridge and rally what's left of the crew," ordered Adam as he and the survivors ran to bridge, ignoring the growls and snarls that began following them.

Eventually they all breathed a sigh of relief as the door to the bridge opened and they saw the welcome sight of alive White Fang members rushing around the cockpit.

"What happened here?" demanded Adam as he stormed towards the surviving bridge crew members.

"We don't know sir, but suddenly the crew just began dying where they stood, they just collapsed after a fit of coughing," informed the lieutenant.

Adam suddenly froze as he remembered the warning from the Atlas ship captain, "did my messengers get through?"

The bridge crew exchanged glances with each other, "messengers?"

Adam just growled in frustration as he slammed his fist into the wall before turning to face the surviving crew members with his hand on Blush and Wilt, "have any of you drank anything since we got here?"

There was a collective shake of heads from the bridge crew making Adam sigh in relief as he removed his hands from his weapons. "The water here is contaminated with something, we tried to send a warning to you. It appears we were too late," explained the Bull Faunus.

"That would explain how it spread so quickly, we refilled the ships water reserves with it," muttered one of the bridge crew.

Upon seeing the horrified expressions from Adam's group of survivors, the bridge crew shared another confused expression. "How much of the crew were infected?" asked Adam quietly, remembering the undead corpses they'd seen earlier.

"Unfortunately, it's likely that everyone outside of this room is infected," replied the lieutenant with a frown.

"BARRACIDE THAT DOOR NOW!" screamed Adam as he and his group began pointing their guns at the open doorway.

"Boss is something wrong? And where's Blake?" asked one of the bridge crew.

The Bull Faunus didn't answer as he rounded on the lieutenant and spotted movement outside the airship window. His jaw dropped as he saw a swarm of what would have once been Grimm Gryphons but were now skeletal undead versions, but what caught his attention was the massive skeletal dragon leading the attack and the familiar armoured figure on its back.

"Get this hunk of junk moving! NOW!" ordered Adam as he saw the approaching horde.

"Sir we can't the storm-" began the lieutenant, only to be interrupted by Adam grabbing him by the collar of his uniform.

"Doesn't matter! We're dead if we stay here! Now get this thing moving damn it!" he snarled, before dropping the lieutenant to the floor and pointing at the skeletal fleet approaching them.

"R-right away sir," stuttered the subordinate as he saw them and rushed over to the control console, the airship's dust generators spinning to life as it struggled to raise itself to the ground.

Everyone had to hold on to something as the airship was rocked from the storm's winds and to make matters worse there came a loud bang on the barricaded doorway they had just come from followed by a low moan. Those present that weren't essential for flying the airship immediately drew their weapons and pointed them at the door as it was beat down to reveal a horde of former White Fang members, their Ghoul forms still having their mask fused to their faces.

"Open fire!" yelled the Bull Faunus and the entire cockpit became consumed with bright flashes as the party unloaded into the chokepoint.

For a brief moment it looked like the tide of Undead would be halted as they fell under the combined fire of so many individuals, but ever so slowly they began to push forward. The Ghouls tripping over their dead fellows as they rushed to break through the chokepoint and engage the White Fang in close quarters. Eventually the tide of Undead could be halted no longer as they surged forward and Adam had to duck as he sliced one of his former comrades to pieces with Wilt.

The Bull Faunus became a red blur of movement as he proceeded slice and dice all the room's enemies, only to stumble as the airship gave another sudden lurch before falling into a nose dive. Adam quickly turned to the helm and saw the White Fang helmsman slumped over the controls dead as a Ghoul stood over the body and hissed at the Bull Faunus.

Adam quickly rushed towards the controls and decapitated the Ghoul before grabbing the directional stick and attempted to pull the airship out of its nose dive as the ground came rushing up to meet them. The entire airship groaned from the forces that were now assaulting it as it tried to break the pull of gravity and slowly the airship began to level out.

Adam would have breathed a sigh of relief but he had to let go of the controls briefly as another Ghoul rushed towards him, only for Wilt to shoot out of its sheath and knock the Undead back as it impacted it in the head. The Bull Faunus didn't have time to grab his sword as he returned his attention to the airship, attempting to keep it level even as he fired at the Undead with Blush.

However, the Faunus couldn't effectively split his attention between the two challenges of defending himself and flying an airship, and soon the inevitable happened. In his desperation to fight off another Undead Ghoul, Adam didn't notice the mountain rapidly approaching them until it was almost too late.

Upon seeing the obstacle, the Bull Faunus immediately tried to bank to the side to avoid it but with the combined power of the storm fighting against him and the airship's own sluggish steering, the airship clipped the side of the mountain before hitting the ground and throwing everyone to the ground as it skidded to a stop.

Shaking his head Adam gave a silent thanks to his Aura as he quickly ran to Wilt and turned just in time to kick a Ghoul back and out of the now broken cockpit window. Finally, the sounds of combat in the cockpit died down as the surviving White Fang members finally caught their breath and turned to face their leader.

"I want a status report on the ship, how long until we can get it moving? We don't want to be here when the rest of the horde catch up to us," ordered Adam, getting nods from everyone as they rushed to various consoles in the cockpit.

Suddenly they all heard a loud roar before the survivors were greeted to the sight of the giant skeletal dragon and its rider staring at them from out the shattered remains of the windows. "I am the Lich King, Jaune Arc. Lord of the Scourge and Ruler of Northrend, you who have trespassed into our domain shall now suffer the consequences," announced a loud male voice.

"Cut the crap! We didn't even know this place was inhabited!" shouted Adam as he fingered the hilt of Wilt cautiously.

There was a brief silence before they heard the rider speak up once more, "are you their leader?"

Adam just nodded and a low growl escaped him as he heard the Lich King chuckle softly and suddenly gestured with his hand at the Bull Faunus. Adam just let out a quick gasp of shock as he felt something tug on him and instantly the Faunus was thrown towards the Lich King, hovering in front of the armoured figure as he struggled to breathe through the feeling of a hand closing around his throat. Before the White Fang could react the skeletal dragon let out a stream of ice from its mouth and into the cockpit, freezing them all in an instant.

"Now that the distractions are out of the way, let's begin the first test," informed the Lich King before he and an unwitting Adam were lifted up by Frost Wyrm and dropped on to the top of the now heavily damaged airship.

Instantly Adam felt the hand around his throat disappear as he glared at the armoured figure before him with no small amount of hate. "You're going to regret not killing me when you had the chance," growled the Bull Faunus as he got into an Iaido stance.

Another irritating chuckle escaped Jaune as he slowly unsheathed Frostmourne, the winds that had been blasting into them becoming still and silent as soft snow fell to the ground from above. "That's good to hear, now let the first test begin. I have high hopes for you Adam Taurus, don't disappoint me."

* * *

The fight had been going on for a few minutes and still the Bull Faunus had yet to land a decisive blow against the Lich King, the closest he got being a slash that grazed his armour. To make it worse Adam knew that he wasn't being taken seriously, the King had yet to even do anything other than defend against his attacks.

' _Kel'Thuzad is she ready?_ ' asked Jaune as he sent a mental message to his General while lazily blocking the incoming strike from Adam.

' _Yes milord, it took some time to engrave her weapons with Runes. Unfortunately, we didn't have enough time to forge her Saronite armour,_ ' replied the Lich.

The Lich King nodded as he kicked Adam in the gut, sending the Faunus flying backwards from the force of the kick. ' _It doesn't matter, besides from her style of combat, heavy Saronite armour would likely be more detrimental than helpful. We will need to develop a light armour variant,_ ' answered Jaune.

' _Understood milord, I shall begin talking to the metal workers about it. The test subject should be there momentarily_ ,' announced Kel'Thuzad.

Jaune had a smirk appear on his face as he heard this and instantly he brought Frostmourne up to block the quick slash from Adam. The Lich King then swung his sword in an overarm strike as, for the first time in the fight, he began to retaliate.

Adam grunted as he blocked the strike with Wilt, feeling a massive chunk of his aura drain as he struggled to hold back the blade long enough for his Semblance to kick in. The Faunus then breathed a sigh of relief as he felt the energy from the strike rush into him.

' _He easily survived against my blow, he might actually prove a challenge for her. Either way he passed the first test,_ ' thought Jaune as he examined the Faunus.

"About damn time," muttered Adam as his clothes, hair and tattoos began glowing a bright red.

The Faunus then backed away from Jaune as he sheathed his blade and glared at his opponent with hate, the red glow around his body getting brighter by the second. "I warned you, now you'll pay," he growled at the armoured figure before him.

The Lich King said nothing as he gripped Frostmourne in both hands and watched as Adam rushed towards him at an astounding speed, the Faunus' hands preparing to unleash the power stored in the sheathed blade. Suddenly Frostmourne began to glow with a bright blue colour as snow landed on the blade and contrasted the red glow of Adam. And so the two met, an ice cold blue colliding with the fiery blazing red as Adam skidded to a stop just in front of the Lich King in a classic Iaido stance and unsheathed his blade, and suddenly the entire area turned into a sea of red.

As the red glow around Adam faded the Faunus was shocked to see his blade being blocked by Frostmourne, which had its faint blue colour disappear. The Lich King then looked around him and saw the damage Adam's attack had done to the hull of the airship before nodding in appreciation.

"Impressive, but Frostmourne has fought against foes so powerful they are beyond your comprehension. It will take more than that to break this blade Adam Taurus," pointed out Jaune.

"How do you know my name?" growled out Adam as he fired Blush into the armoured figure's helmet and saw the dust round bounce off the armour.

Suddenly chains of ice erupted from the snow covered hull of the airship and quickly bound the Faunus where he stood. "So what now? You're going to kill me?" frowned Adam as he stared at the armoured figure, Wilt and Blush clutched tightly in each hand, even as he struggled to break the chains.

"Actually I have other uses for you, and besides your life has already been promised to someone else," replied the Lich King with a soft chuckle as he turned to the left.

Adam followed his gaze as best his trapped form could and froze as he saw the skeletal remains of a Grimm Gryphon land on the airship, however it wasn't the mount but its rider that made the Bull Faunus' eyes go wide in shock. "Quite poetic isn't it?" pointed out the female rider in a smug tone as the chains of ice binding him vanished.

"Remember this is a test for both of you, don't fail me," said the Lich King as his glowing blue eyes met Adam's one last final time before he walked towards the edge of the airship as his Frost Wyrm landed next to him.

"He passed the first test, I want his corpse intact," announced Jaune as he got onto his mount and flew away, leaving the two to stare silently at each other.

Blake just nodded silently at this order as she refused to break eye contact with Adam, Gambol Shroud now covered with runes along the weapon and glowing the same blue as her eyes.

* * *

 **Omake: The Incompetent King**

They all watched fearfully as the armoured figure stared down at them with glowing blue eyes, as if debating which he should kill first. Blake suppressed a shudder as they saw him begin to walk towards them, only to blink in surprise as the figure tripped over his own cape. Just like that the overwhelming presence they'd felt disappeared as they stared at the boy being strangled by his own cape.

"God damned cape," growled the figure as he untangled himself and took the Helm of his head, revealing a blonde haired man with blue glowing eyes whom smiled at them.

He then walked over to the still crouched Blake and stuck out a hand with a confident smile as he winked at her, "the name's Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue. Ladies love it."

Elsewhere Kel'Thuzad and Anub'arak just shook their heads in disappointment, "I was hoping his time on the throne would have given him time to mature."

The Lich just nodded sadly as he watched their king unsuccessfully try to hit on the Cat Faunus, "I died for that man…very painfully did I die for him…"

* * *

 **Well there you guys go, the first Death Knight. Personally I'm not exactly satisfied with this chapter but what can you do. Also shout out to Garoorar for the idea of the Omake.**


	4. Monsters and Masks

**Hey guys, not a lot to say except sorry for the long wait. Anyway enjoy the chapter.**

 **Question time:**

 **Shincore: No Jaune will not be weak. However, he will rarely use his true strength due to the attention it will get him.**

 **CRAZY RUSSIAN: HOW DID YOU KNOW! Anyway Holding All the Cards should be updated soon, the chapter is currently being edited by my beta, once he is done I'll post it.**

 **Colshan: Awesome mate, thanks. I was aiming for a Dead Space feel for that chapter.**

 **Tsun: Okay so I never played DOTA so no sorry the Scourge Heroes from DOTA won't be in this story (the Drow in my name came from Forgotten Realms not DOTA). As for the Drow Ranger, ironically I did debate it after you mentioned it but again due to a lack of knowledge about DOTA decided to stick with the one I knew best which was Death Knights. However, these Death Knights will change depending on the individuals, I'm basically using the WOW Death Knights as a base and slowly branching out from there for each character.**

 **LT Hawkin SpartanII 065: Well you see…spoiler spoiler spoiler.**

 **Dragonlordandsword: The Maidens are going to play a big part in this story…**

 **DanteNaru: I can't say much about Paladins without spoiling a plot point but yes they have existed in this universe, whether or not they still do is up for debate.**

 **Azure Saiyan: Will do.**

 **Noob6: The silver eyes power will be in this story.**

* * *

"Blake? Is that you? Oum what did he do to you?" gasped Adam, backtracking slightly as the Cat Faunus began slowly approaching him.

Blake just growled as she kept her icy blue gaze focused solely on Adam, "my king has remade me, given me power, and most of all a chance for revenge. Something that you should know better than most _Adam_."

"Your King? Blake he's using you, can't you see that?!" shouted the Bull Faunus as the howling Northrend winds rocked the wreckage of the airship.

"No more than you did to all of us," pointed out the Death Knight with a growl. "You think I didn't notice how you constantly manipulated and lied to the others? How you lead the White Fang after all these years!"

"I did what I had to for us to survive, traitor!" snarled Adam as he rushed towards his former partner and tried to slash at her with Wilt, only to see Blake's clone take the hit.

Eyes widening the Bull Faunus immediately spun around as he used Blush to block the retaliating swing from Gambol Shroud, grunting as he struggled to push back the unexpected force of the blow. As he blocked the attack Adam frowned, the runes on Blake's weapons seemed to disappear briefly and he noticed ice forming where Blush was meeting Gambol Shroud.

"Traitor? No. I'm going to save the White Fang, our lord is very understanding about our situation. You see, like the Scourge, we were betrayed by the four Kingdoms. We were promised freedom and equal rights, but what did we get? Nothing!" snarled Blake as she leapt backwards from her opponent.

Adam just watched in shock as a ball of sickening green energy formed around the end of Blake's sheath before speeding towards him at an unimaginable speed. The Faunus tried to dodge the attack but he wasn't fast enough as the Death Coil slammed into his chest, making Adam gasp as he felt the necrotic energies slam into his aura and take a huge chunk of it from the impact.

'What was that? It wasn't Dust or her Semblance, I'd recognize both of those, no that attack was something else,' he thought as the pain form the attack started to die down. The Faunus shook the thoughts from his head as Blake continued speaking, capturing Adam's attention once more as he got back into an Iaido stance.

"But the Kingdoms will pay for their crimes, my King will assure it. And he has plans for us, the White Fang. Together we shall join as one, the White Fang shall serve the Scourge and in turn be spared the coming conflict," announced the Death Knight and a deep frown spread across Adam's face.

"If you want to save the White Fang then you're off to a poor start," growled Adam darkly as he gestured to the crashed airship beneath their feet.

"Sacrifices had to be made, right Adam? You should know that considering what you did to me," replied the Death Knight as she glared at her partner.

"Sacrifices? Sacrifices?! Is that what you're telling yourself Blake?!" snarled Adam in fury. "Then as someone who has made that call before let me educate you about something even the most heartless of commanders know…there is a difference between spending lives and wasting them!"

"And if you can't tell the difference between the two, then you are not fit to lead anyone Blake Belladonna," he finished, glancing up at her with a frown. "No you're not Blake, she was far too caring and naïve to sacrifice anyone. You're just a monster wearing her face and even if it's the last thing I do…I will end your insult myself!"

Adam suddenly ran towards her as he readied another quick draw attack, making Blake frown as she watched him approach with a blank expression on her face. "How predictable or have you forgotten how long I've fought with you, I know your fighting style even better than my own," she replied, activating Howling Blast between her and the charging Adam.

Instantly the space between the two fighters was bombarded with vicious icy cold winds, causing the airship to give a metallic grown as Blake prepared for Adam to burst out of the attack. However, the Death Knight was surprised as she felt something hit her in the side of her head, causing her to slide across the icy hull.

"I see, unlike those other Undead, you still have your aura active. I guess I should have seen that coming when you used your Semblance…but it's weaker then what I remember," mused Adam, watching as Blake slowly got off the ground.

The White Fang member then shuddered as he saw the normal purple and black colour of Blake's aura now having slivers of a sickening necrotic green tainting it. It was wrong, there was something fundamentally wrong with her aura. Even Adam who prided himself in not believing in superstitions felt his skin crawl at what was being shown to him…it was just _wrong_.

'And if aura is the manifestation of her soul, then I can only guess how deeply this affects her, for it to taint her very soul like this. Maybe it really is a mercy to put her down after all,' he thought with a pitying expression briefly on his face as Blake's aura outline faded.

"How did you do that?" questioned the Death Knight.

"Oh don't look so surprised Blake, did you really think that I wouldn't realize your familiarity with my fighting style." The Bull Faunus sheathed Wilt again as he turned to face her, "I still have tricks up my sleeve you don't know about."

"As do I," replied Blake, the blue glow from her eyes and weapons intensifying as Chains of Ice again erupted from the ground, only this time Adam was ready for it. Upon seeing the familiar signs of the spell, the Bull Faunus immediately used Wilt to cut the chains as soon as they began to form.

Blake watched as her attack failed before she gestured with one of her fingers and caused Adam to be pulled towards her, Gambol Shroud covered in ice once again as it slammed into Adam's surprised body. The Bull Faunus cried out as his already battered and drained aura broke from the strain of the attack and the weapon gouged a deep cut in his body that then had ice grow around the wound.

Adam immediately started coughing as sweet dripped down his brow, the first signs of the magically infused disease Frost Fever slowly poisoning his body. He then grunted before pushing Blake back with a kick to her cold flesh, only for the Bull Faunus to see Blake push against the blow with far greater strength then he remembered her having.

Seeing Adam stumbling slightly Blake readied a brutal attack against him, Gambol Shroud glowing bright blue with power as the last glowing rune on its blade died down to fuel the attack. Realizing the danger of this final blow Adam quickly unsheathed his sword again to block the attack before smiling as he was surrounded in a familiar red glow, Wilt absorbing the impact as he sheathed the blade.

Seeing Blake's horrified expression, he smirked in victory before once again unleashing his sword and dyeing the world in a sea of red, watching as Blake's head rolled off her body. However, his brief joyful feeling died as he saw 'Blake' had been replaced by an ice clone that had trapped Wilt within itself.

Before the Faunus could pull his sword out of the ice clone he was immediately dragged away from it and towards the edge of the airship as an injured Blake came out of hiding. 'How is she doing this?' thought Adam as he struggled against the force that was dragging him towards the Death Knight.

As he finally came to a halt Adam looked up at Blake and saw the shallow cut along her forehead and grinned, 'it looks like she wasn't fast enough to escape completely unscathed, at least her aura is down now. Not that it matters now…or does it?'

"Any last words Adam?" asked Blake as she stared at the defeated Faunus before her.

Adam nodded as he slowly swayed to his feet, a hand clutching his head as he pretended to have a concussion, however inside his mind was racing. 'If she's out of aura then she doesn't have any clones left, which means that's the real one. Hmm…that could work, but it'll likely kill us both,' he thought as a plan formed in his mind.

"I told you before, I'll kill you even if it means the death of us both!" growled Adam, before he bull-rushed Blake and caught her off guard as the two former partners both went tumbling over the edge of the airship and fell to the the rapidly approaching ground.

As they fell Adam positioned himself on top of Blake so that that the Death Knight was the first to hit the ground, using her body as a makeshift cushion as the two impacted the icy earth. Again Adam cried out in pain as his vision blurred while Blake coughed up blood but otherwise remained silent as her eyes stared at nothing.

Adam glanced at her unmoving body taking silent thanks for the fact that her weapons had be lost in their frantic tumble. The Bull Faunus spent the next few minutes staring at Blake's body, wary of it rising from the grave again before he breathed a sigh of relief and limped away, trying to ignore the pain burning through his body.

"We still have unfinished business, Adam Taurus," announced a female voice and making Adam's hopes to sink like a stone.

The Faunus spun around to see Blake's body rising again before the ball of necrotic energy once again formed in her hand, causing Adam to flinch as he prepared to dodge the spell. However, the Death Coil never hit him and instead Blake slammed the spell into her own body, Adam frown as he saw the wounds on her body heal as if they were never there.

'It can heal her as well as be used as an attack? Damn it, at least we're both unarmed, but if she's anything like those other Undead then she won't go down easily without weapons,' thought Adam as he forced he struggling body into a boxing stance.

"That was surprising, I never expected you to want to kill your former partner that much Adam," mused Blake, getting a low growl from the Faunus.

"I told you, you're not Blake. You're just some Monster that took her place," he replied, getting a scoff from the Death Knight.

"And you would know what a monster is, wouldn't you Adam?" growled Blake, making her former partner freeze.

"What do you mean?" he whispered softly.

A cold chuckle sounded out from Blake's mouth, her strange yet familiar voice chilling Adam far more than the freezing temperatures ever could. "You mean you don't know? You're just like us Adam Taurus, a monster in everything but name, you and I are both the same. How many innocent people did you kill to get to where you are today? You are a monster already," smirked Blake, causing Adam to back away slowly.

"You're lying!" denied the Faunus.

"Oh really? Then tell me, do you remember our train robbery? I asked about the crew and what did you say?" continued Blake as they both delved deep into their memories.

" _Move onto the other cart," ordered Adam as he closed the lid of the dust container._

" _What about the crew?" asked Blake with a concerned frown._

 _The Bull Faunus just turned to look at her with an uncaring expression on his face as he continued onwards, "what about them?"_

 _"Adam..." begged the Cat Faunus._

Seeing the look of realization appearing on his face Blake nodded, "it's scary isn't it, to look into your reflection and hate what it's become. Besides who was it that said that if mankind treats us like monsters, we might as well become them?"

"And that's supposed to make me help you? Forget it! I don't know what plan you or your 'King' have concocted for the White Fang, but I'm not going to let it happen," snarled the Faunus as he struggled to keep conscious as his vision blurred again.

"You don't have a choice in the matter Adam, in fact you're going to help us do it," replied Blake.

"Over my dead body," he growled, getting a nod from the Death Knight.

"That's the idea," she replied, as the two of them stood silently facing each other in the icy wasteland, the winds that had been whipping up a blizzard growing still as they stood in the shadow of the crashed airship.

Adam flinched as he put more weight on his injured legs, trying to ignore the loud crack from them as he dodged the fist that breezed past his head and kneed Blake in her gut. The Bull Faunus followed up this attack with an elbow into the back of her neck before slamming his other hand into her head, knocking Blake to the ground.

"Not so tough without your weapons or aura, are you? Disgracefully I taught you better than that," growled Adam as he stamped on her throat.

Blake just glared at him before grabbing his leg and slamming a fist into the back of his already injured legs, showering the Death Knight in the blood spurt as the leg broke and bone pierced the skin. Adam cried out in pain before he fell over and watched as Blake got up from the ground, the blood covering her body beginning to bubble as if boiling. Suddenly a red pulse of energy spread out from the Death Knight and Adam instantly felt pain erupt through his body as it crossed him, his coughing and sweating increasing tenfold.

"You lose Adam," announced Blake as she walked over to his diseased and dying body.

"It seems so…" coughed out the Bull Faunus as he looked up at the stormy sky above them. "Blake if there is even a shred of the person you once were left inside there then please listen to me."

"Our people…the White Fang…they're in danger, even as we speak. I thought that if we hid out in Northrend _she_ wouldn't come after us, that's why I ordered this scouting mission, to protect them from _her_ …out of the frying pan and into the fire right?" chuckled Adam before again falling into a coughing fit.

"It seems no matter what we're destined to be used by forces greater than us, tools for their purposes," muttered the Faunus sadly as memories of the woman and her two minions slaughtering his men returned.

The Death Knight said nothing as she stared at the man dying at her feet as he slowly lifted the mask off his face to reveal the sad and bloodied face beneath it. Lifting a shaky hand up to her Adam offered the mask to Blake, whom hesitantly took it from him and stared at Adam's face, her blank expression morphing into one of shock as she saw the Faunus' face for the first time.

"Blake I beg you, if you truly do still care about the White Fang…then protect them. You have your leader's trust, please don't let your 'King' treat them like the 'Queen' did. Please promise me you'll keep them safe," begged the dying White Fang leader, his voice barely a whisper.

However, the Faunus never got his answer as the light finally died from his eyes and his chest grew still, leaving Blake alone in the silence as she stared at him before turning to the mask in her hands. Slowly Blake put the mask over her own face, the blue glow of her eyes hidden behind Adam's mask as she collected her weapons and summoned a Death Gate. Picking up Adam's body she rushed through the gate and into the swirling mass of colours.

* * *

"It looks like the experiment didn't turn out to be as effective as you hoped it to be milord," mused Kel'Thuzad, the Lich watching the fight between the newest Death Knight and Adam.

Jaune just smiled beneath his helm as he shook his head and turned his attention away from the fight and looked out over the grounded Atlas warship being slowly excavated by a large number of Undead. "On the contrary Lich, they both have exceeded all my expectations," replied the Lich King with a smile.

"That Faunus, Adam, he is far stronger then I initially believed, in fact if I hadn't of tired him out then that would have been a much longer and drawn out fight. It is entirely possible that he would kill my new Death Knight rather than the other way around," he continued.

"But then doesn't that mean that the Death Knight experiment failed? They should not lose to any mortal," questioned Kel'Thuzad.

"He is not _any_ mortal, Kel'Thuzad. And besides even in his tired state he would have easily defeated Blake before she was reborn. The fact that she could beat him alone speaks volumes for how her new abilities have improved her, even without proper training to master her new powers. Now enough about that, I believe you and Anub'arak have some information to share," concluded Jaune.

"Yes milord, the four Kingdoms have changed drastically since you last woke up," answered Anub'arak, the Nerubian looking at the airship with grudging admiration that was matched by Kel'Thuzad.

"The use of Dust has changed drastically, the Kingdoms now have technology that seems almost like magic not to mention the invention if guns and explosives," informed Anub'arak, getting a nod from the Lich King.

"What about the Maidens do you have any news about that?" he asked, causing them both to frown.

"No milord, it would seem that whoever is in charge of protecting the current ones is doing a very good job at keeping their identities secret, as far as the Kingdoms know the Maidens are just a fairy tale. Your new Death Knight might know more than us, she has been living in the Kingdoms for quite some time," answered Kel'Thuzad.

"Noted, so what can you tell me about these flying ships?" replied Jaune as he looked out over the warship with interest.

"They use Dust to power a technology that allows for flight, from what we can gather from the few times a true fight broke out between us and them their firepower is immense, but the true purpose of this ship appears to be a carrier of some sort. There was an abnormally large amount of machines guarding the ship when compared to the vessels of a similar tonnage," briefed the Lich.

"Machines?" repeated the Lich King in confusion.

"Yes Atlas appears to use some form of mechanical soldiers powered by Dust as their main strike force, however it seems that the other Kingdoms still prefer using actual people as their foot soldiers," informed Anub'arak.

"Atlas? What is that?" questioned Jaune with a frown.

"It was originally Mantle before reformations took place and it became Atlas, currently it is the most technologically advanced nation of the four Kingdoms," replied the Lich.

"Interesting…now explain to me about these aura warriors you mentioned earlier," ordered the King as his two generals nodded.

"Hunters, they're specialized warriors who are trained to fight Grimm, as well as act as peacekeepers both within the Kingdoms and in the outlining settlements. However, unlike the armed forces they are not under the direct control of the ruling Councils of each Kingdom," informed Kel'Thuzad.

A frown crossed Jaune's face as he heard this, "that is dangerous of them, to give such powerful warriors free rein. Who is in charge of these 'hunters?'"

"From what we know there is no official person 'leading' them, with the exception of Atlas. However, most hunters answer to the headmasters of their respective hunter academies; Ironwood of Atlas academy, Ozpin of Beacon a-" the Lich abruptly cut himself off as Jaune spun to face him.

"Did you say Ozpin?" asked the Lich King, getting a hesitant nod from his generals.

There was silence as the two generals stared at their silent King before Kel'Thuzad spoke up, "milord is there a problem?"

"This 'Ozpin,' what is his last name? What does he look like?" asked Jaune, causing Anub'arak and his companion to exchange glances before they both shook their heads.

"I'm afraid we don't know milord, our apologies," replied the Lich with a bow of his head.

Jaune just calmly fingered Frostmourne as he nodded, "do you remember back during the Fall of Lordaeron, Lich? The messengers we sent to the other Kingdoms? I do, my sister was there after all and she told me about one of the advisers she'd met in Vale. The only one to try and convince their leaders to help us, a grey haired man called Ozpin."

"It could be a coincidence," pointed out Anub'arak.

"Indeed, it could be…but until we're shown otherwise we had best be careful, you said he was the headmaster of Beacon correct? One of the Hunter academies?" he asked, getting nods from them both.

"Interesting," muttered the King as a plan began forming in his head before he turned back to the Atlas warship. "Regardless, if this kind of power the Kingdoms now have then we're going to need more than our current forces to bring them down. Anub'arak I want you to go and find us some more 'recruits' for the Scourge."

The Nerubian frowned, "milord who will be in charge of defending Northrend in my absence? Besides the Kingdoms will notice if their people start going missing."

"Who said they had to be human recruits? The Grimmlands are ripe with potential recruits after all, plus you know that land better than all of us," replied Jaune.

"I would advise against that Master," announced a rumbling female voice as the three of them turned to see the Frost Wyrm descend from above them.

"Sindragosa, it is rare that you ever speak, is something wrong?" asked the King, a hint of concern seeping into his cold voice.

The Frost Wyrm gave her master an affectionate nuzzle before she nodded and rose back up to her full height, causing the others to stretch their necks to meet her gaze. "I recognize the power growing in the Grimmlands, it is my former master, the one who sent me to my death, and she appears to have something planned," growled the Frost Wyrm.

"Salem," spat the King in fury before he turned to the Nerubian beside him. "Anub'arak your role just became much more important, take an army with you and head back to the Grimmlands. I want you to keep an eye on her, it goes without saying of course that while I expect you to get us more 'recruits' I want you to keep a long profile."

"I understand, we can use the old tunnels of Azjol Empire, the Grimm never did find all our hidden tunnels," replied the Nerubian as he walked off, leaving the three of them to prepare.

"Milord while I have faith in Anub'arak, I would like to go and assist him. I am more familiar with the power Salem wields than he is," requested the Lich.

"No Kel'Thuzad I have another task for you. First I want you to begin working on recreating the technology the other Kingdoms have. Their advancements in Dust technology is their only advantage against us and I want it gone, until then we'll just use the ships we've captured as our fleet," ordered Jaune, getting a nod of understanding from the Lich.

"It will be done," replied Kel'Thuzad.

"Good, now tell me how do you feel about teaching?" asked the King in amusement.

"Teaching? Who would I be teaching?" muttered the Lich in confusion.

A small grin spread across Jaune's face as he replied, "the White Fang must have some promising candidates, once we annex them you will be in charge of training them in magic."

"Hmm. An interesting idea, but you do realize that the odds of a person performing magic, let alone becoming proficient in it are incredibly low correct?" pointed out Kel'Thuzad.

"If even one of them was able to learn mediocre magic then I'd consider it a success, so what do you want to call your new organization?" answered Jaune with a smile.

"I think the Cult of the Damned sounds good," replied Kel'Thuzad as he headed towards the Atlas warship, wanting to examine the Dust generators in greater detail.

Watching him go Jaune grew silent as he and Sindragosa stared up at the grey stormy sky, "master, there's more that I have to tell you."

"Oh?" prompted Jaune in an interested tone.

"My old brethren and what's few that is left of the Flights are beginning to reawaken, we should be cautious with our next moves," advised the Frost Wyrm.

"I see, that complicates things. I was expecting to deal with just the remnants of the Black Flight, not the others, I thought Salem had them all wiped out by your brethren," frowned the King.

"So did I," sighed the Frost Wyrm, suddenly a Death Gate sprung up beside them as Blake ran out of the portal carrying Adam's dead body.

"Good work Death Knight, now give his corpse over. We must hurry if we are to revive him while his soul has yet to pass on to the next life," ordered Jaune as he held out one hand while the other started channeling a massive amount of necrotic energies.

Blake said nothing as she watched the process she had just recently undergone was repeated on her former partner, eventually her King nodded before placing Adam's body on Sindragosa's back and the Frost Wyrm flew into the air towards Icecrown Citadel.

The Lich King then turned back to face her and frowned as he saw the Adam's mask on her face, making a flinch escape the Death Knight as she tried to meet her King's gaze and failed. "Is that the Faunus' mask?" asked the King, getting a silent nod from Blake.

The Lich King was silent as his piercing blue gaze burrowed into her's and causing the Death Knight to feel the will of her King press down upon her, a deep silence filling the atmosphere before he eventually nodded in satisfaction. "Very well you can keep the mask, I suppose it can hide your eyes from others, just make sure you repaint it. You'll need it for your next assignment," he mused.

"Assignment?" repeated Blake in confusion.

The Death Knight said nothing as she heard a low chuckle escape her King before he reached up to the Helm of Domination and lifted it off his face to reveal the blonde boy beneath it. "Yes Blake Belladonna, you and I are going to school," he announced, fingering the hilt of Frostmourne softly.

* * *

 **Omake: The Incompetent King**

Blake shook her head as she stared at one of the most powerful people in Remnant currently emptying the contents of his stomach into the trash can. 'He can ride skeletal Frost Wyrms as well as Gryphons through stormy weather and yet a gentle ride in an airship makes him rush towards the nearest trash can?' thought the Death Knight in dismay.

"Well at least Remnant has found their secret weapon against you," she laughed, causing Jaune to turn and glare at her before returning his attention to the vomit filled bin.

"When I come into power the first thing I'm doing is banning these Devil machines," he growled softly.

Another small smirk spread across Blake's face as she replied, "well at the rate you're going…somehow I think that the airship industry has nothing to worry about."

Jaune was about to reply when the airship gave another sudden lurch causing him to once again vomit into the trash can, much to the amusement of everyone watching whom burst out into laughter. "Is this how you treat someone who saved your life? And is your leader?" growled Jaune.

"Only until they start acting like the leader they're meant to be, and being sick from a gentle airship ride is not a good way to start, Vomit Boy," replied an amused Blake.

Jaune suddenly spun to face her, "hey I'll have you know that airsickness is far more common than people would have you believe."

"Sure it is, whatever you say Jaune," replied Blake rubbing his back before taking a book out and sitting down near the vomiting Lich King.

'If only that damned Lich could see this now,' thought the Death Knight, a smile coming to her face as she pictured Kel'Thuzad's depressed reaction to their king's behaviour. 'Maybe I'll send him some pictures of our incompetent King right now…'

 **Elsewhere…**

Kel'Thuzad froze as a giant feeling of crippling anxiety and depression overwhelmed him from nowhere, 'for some reason I feel like killing that damned Death Knight…'

* * *

 **Okay so before everyone yells at me, yes I know Sindragosa was originally from the Blue Flight and not the Black but it is being changed for this story. Next I was, how many of you are here from my previous stories and if you are what did you like about them? If you haven't read any of my previous stories then what do you like about this one so far? Finally, there was a lot of requests to do more of the Incompetent King Omakes, so they're going to be a constant thing with each chapter update.**


	5. A Cold Reception

**Hey everyone hope you enjoy the newest chapter, there's a very good reason why it took so long to update.**

 **Sombra hacked my computer I swear…**

 **Anyway enjoy the newest chapter.**

 **Question time:**

 **MachineDog90: unless someone can think up a good reason and plot with them, the only part the Burning Legion will play is a mention every now and then. The faction itself likely won't appear until much later in the story, assuming I get that far.**

 **ragnaros teh fiyah lawd: I would need to look into the lore revolving around Titan constructs and Old Ones before coming to a decision on that. Next, the Burning Legion won't be used as a faction but they will be referenced with the lore of the crossover world, as of now I don't know if people would even want to see them in this story.**

 **Jack Redhawke: Everyone seems to love that quote.**

 **Pokewarrior: Yeah sorry mate, I know next to nothing on DOTA.**

 **Wiereird: Unfortunately, Jaune's motives is one of the things I'd like to keep secret for now, sorry.**

 **Kane: I personally was going a more Blood DK to start with for Adam. As for Salem…well she influences the Grimm soooo…I'll leave it up to your imagination.**

 **Dreddman: That is an awesome idea and I'd wish I'd thought of it, but sadly we're too late to turn back now. Although if you would write it I'd happily read it, just saying *hint hint***

 **Drakefire: Glad you liked it mate.**

 **Mingyu: Yeah, the Omakes are there to lighten up the mood slightly.**

 **Crazywaffle: I intend to, believe me I'm looking forward to writing Blake and Jaune's characters more, especially in Beacon.**

 **AnimeA55Kicker: Yep, they sure were.**

 **JP: True, I didn't think of that.**

 **Amvmaster: Haha, as much as I'd love to make the Incompetent King, it will stay as an Omake. But that doesn't stop someone else writing it as a similar story.**

 **Eye of Sauron: Well that's some vivid imagery. I don't think even Cardin is dumb enough to piss off Jaune that much.**

 **Noob6: That was the original idea, but I figured that people wouldn't like the story as much. The Incompetent King was actually the first draft I did before rewriting it as it now and uploading the story.**

 **Tsun: When did I give the impression that Ozpin would be an ally? Jaune is just incredibly suspicious of him than anything else. The reason I chose them to go to Beacon is that at the current moment they do not have the forces to attack a single Kingdom head on. Plus remember that Hunters or Aura Warriors were incredibly rare and powerful in their time, so they are understandably wary of them. As for taking down the communication towers, how would they know about them? Their knowledge has come from killing people in the expeditionary fleet. As far as I know, the fact that these Towers require the others to operate is classified, otherwise Remnant has some serious security problems.**

 **DanteNaru: Yes, other weapons like Ashbringer do exist.**

 **Garoorar: Yep you have a point there.**

* * *

"Adam Taurus, how good to see you again. Tell me is that a new mask?" asked a female sultry voice.

The Faunus turned to face his visitors with a smirk on his face, "ah Cinder, I was wondering when you'd show up."

The three visitors all were caught briefly off guard at Adam's confident reply before Cinder continued in an equally confident voice. "Well, you and your scouting team have been gone for an entire week, worst of all none of your people would tell me where you went. Almost as if you were planning on running from me and breaking our deal, but that can't be right…can it?"

The tension in the room skyrocketed as Adam and Cinder glared at each other before the Faunus shrugged, "if you must know we encountered a storm that held us up during our stay at Northrend."

For the first time in as long as either Mercury or Emerald could remember, a shocked expression appeared on Cinder's face. "You-you went to Northrend…and survived?" she stated as her eyes widened.

"In a manner of speaking," replied the Death Knight with a knowing grin.

Instantly Cinder recovered from her shocked outburst as she began pressing him for information on the forbidden continent. After all, even Salem had told them to avoid that place at all costs…Salem of all people! But what the Faunus said next shocked the Maiden to her core.

"If you're so curious about it than you can come with us, I'm relocating the majority of our reserve forces to Northrend. Our new allies should take care of them, give them new ships, weapons…in fact some even have _magic_ of all things," baited Adam.

"You're lying, no one has made it to that place and come back alive. I don't care what story you've cooked up but I want the truth now. Where were you?" demanded Cinder as her eyes began glowing.

"Why don't you ask Salem? She knows far more than she lets you in on," shot back the Faunus, causing all three of his visitors to stiffen.

"How do you know that name?" questioned Cinder in a low, dangerous tone.

"Do you like fairytales Cinder? Personally my favourite was always the Four Maidens, but you know sometimes I have to wonder…out of all the fairytales we have in Remnant. Why is that one so well known?" pondered Adam, ignoring the question.

The Faunus was then interrupted from his musing as a fireball flew past his ear, too close to be anything but a warning shot, as Emerald and Mercury rushed towards him. "Alright so that's how it's going to be," muttered Adam as once again a shocked expression crossed Cinder's face as the Maiden power within her, literally _recoiled_ at the power that began flowing out of the Faunus.

Cinder just watched with wide eyes as the minute Emerald and Mercury stepped forward chains of ice erupted from the ground and bound them to dirt. 'This feeling…magic? That's not possible! The Maidens can only be female so how…wait he said that they went to Northrend didn't he? Maybe he wasn't lying after all?'

Flames sprouted in Cinder's hands as her eyes started glowing with power and the temperature in the room skyrocketed. "Adam Taurus, release my companions at once and I might be inclined to make your punishment light," she ordered, only to get a resonating chuckle from the Bull Faunus.

"You don't scare me anymore Fall Maiden, I know what makes you tick now," he informed the mastermind and causing Cinder's eyes to narrow.

"You need to learn your place Adam Taurus," snarled Cinder in fury.

A low smirk grew on his face, "I know my place…it's above you on the food chain."

"If you know what I am than you know the power that I now wield, I could kill everyone in this little group of yours without any complications," she growled, her voice no longer sultry but laced with a promise of death and violence.

"Once upon a time perhaps," smiled Adam, before he gripped his sword in one hand and made a strange gesture with his free one.

Cinder again felt magical energy the likes of which she had never sensed before erupt from the Faunus' hand and could only blink in surprise as she found herself being forcefully dragged towards Adam, only coming to a stop inches from his face with Wilt at her throat. Realising the threat now posed by the leader of the White Fang, she reached into her Maiden power and Adam was forced to drop her as the ground beneath him erupted with energy.

Thunder boomed across the once silent night as storm clouds began gathering around Cinder and winds slammed against the command tent, eventually blowing the entire structure away and revealing the fight to the rest of the White Fang present. Upon seeing their leader standing with his sword drawn against their human 'allies' the rest of the White Fang quickly followed suite and Cinder, Emerald and Mercury found themselves staring down the barrels of multiple firearms.

"Stand down all of you, this is my fight," ordered Adam, getting hesitant nods from his subordinates.

"You really think you can beat a Maiden one on one?" scoffed Cinder as flames spread out from her body, immolating anything and anyone nearby.

"Against a fully powered Maiden? Of course not, that would be suicide…but against a weakened one like you? Child's play," replied Adam and instantly the storm clouds calmed as snow began to softly fall to the ground, ice and frost spreading out from Adam's body. "Tell me, why are you so weak? A Maiden should have much more power than what you're displaying."

Cinder silently cursed the damned Huntsman that had interrupted her initial theft of the Maiden's power as she backed up slightly. Flames continued to rage around her as they battled the ice and frost for supremacy of the battlefield and leaving the observing White Fang, as well as Emerald and Mercury themselves, slightly awed at the sight before them.

Realising that she was out matched this time around Cinder began to look for an escape route, only to have to summon her dual swords as Adam rushed her, Wilt and Blush now glowing with runes that she could discern were magical in nature. Wilt just slammed into her blocking blades and Cinder grimaced as she felt the strength behind the attack, something no human or Faunus should have been able to possess.

"What are you?" she hissed, through gritted teeth.

"You mean Salem didn't tell you about us? Why Northrend is known as 'where Grimm fear to tread?' Well isn't that a shame," smirked Adam, getting a stunned expression from Cinder.

In fact, the mastermind was so shocked to hear the identity of her master that she lowered he guard and could only cry out in pain as Wilt slammed into her body. The runes along its surface pulsing slightly before one of them stopped glowing as ice suddenly coated Adam's blade and the weapon slammed into her aura.

Cinder gave a brief thanks to her aura as she felt it tank most of the hit before she rolled to the side and sent a fireball at Adam. The Bull Faunus blinked as the fireball exploded in his face and sent him flying, Cinder breathed a sigh of relief as she tried to maintain her distance and sent numerous fireballs at the Faunus. Understanding his disadvantage at ranged combat Adam again used Death's Grasp to force Cinder towards him and smirked as he slammed his fist into her face, knocking her to the ground.

She recovered with a backflip to her feet and again Adam was forced to dive to the side as the ground erupted once more with energy. Using this as a distraction Cinder than summoned her swords back and charged Adam, knowing that trying to keep her distance was pointless in this case. Adam ducked under the first dual blade but was unable to dodge the second one singing at his neck. The Faunus growled as he felt his weakened aura get drained from the hit and retaliated with a Death Coil. The necrotic green energy slammed into Cinder and the mastermind felt the Maiden power within her writhing in horror as the sickening power impacted her aura.

Again Cinder was stunned as she felt her usurped power begin acting erratically, almost as if it was panicking, making it hard for her to even focus. Taking advantage of her bewildered state Adam again used Death Coil and this time, realising how strong Cinder's aura was he tried a different method. Instead of releasing her, he thought back to when he fought his new master and instead he kept the Death Grip focused on her throat.

Cinder could only gasp as she felt an invisible hand close around her throat before it started strangling her, black spots appearing in her vision as her brain began to get starved of oxygen. The mastermind watched as Adam smirked and walked over to her, Emerald and Mercury still struggling with their icy prisons.

"I could kill you now, but we'd rather work with you than against you. You see you have connections we need; firearms, dust, androids and even Paladins. The White Fang needs these, however we are not slaves understand!?" yelled Adam loudly, ensuring all his fellow White Fang members heard him.

A loud cheer rose up from his subordinates as they began chanting his name, happy to see their boss finally show the 'lowly' humans their place. Meanwhile Cinder just struggled to maintain consciousness as she tried to glare at Adam before slowly nodding her head.

Seeing this Adam released her from his grasp causing Cinder to gasp for air as she was dropped to the ground. Struggling to her feet she then looked at Emerald and Mercury whom were still locked in their icy prison and glared at Adam again. Getting the message, Adam shrugged before gesturing for her to follow him back towards the remnants of the command tent.

"Shall we renegotiate our 'partnership?' I would hate for something bad to happen to your two colleagues," continued Adam as the White Fang grunts all pointed their weapons at the trapped Emerald and Mercury.

"Very well after you," replied Cinder through gritted teeth as she gestured to a private tent.

As the two entered the tent Cinder rounded on Adam and snarled in a low dangerous tone, "how do you know about my master? Did that fool Ozpin tell you? What is that magic?"

"Are you really in the position to demand answers?" questioned Adam with a grim expression on his face.

"You want my connections than you answer my questions," replied Cinder, getting a frown from Adam.

"Very well, my new powers were a gift from my new master. And as of this moment, the White Fang's newest business partner," smirked the Death Knight.

Cinder just raised her eyebrows in surprise, "oh? And what does Sienna Khan think of all this? Relocating your forces and finding new _business partners_ to deal with?"

For the first time the arrogant smirk disappeared from Adam's face as he glared at the Fall Maiden, "he won't care after he sees what they are offering us. Besides what are you going to tell him? He has been looking for an excuse to cut off ties with you, in fact I was the only reason he hasn't done so yet."

"I am aware, just pointing out that your leader might not be happy with this sudden change," pointed out Cinder with a frown.

"You leave Sienna Khan to me, I've been convincing him to put up with you after all," replied Adam, getting a snarl from Cinder.

Eventually the Maiden calmed down and turned to the exit, "if we're done here, I will be on my way."

"Before you go, as a sigh of your continued trust I have a request for you," announced Adam, causing Cinder to halt in the tent doorway before tuning to face him in curiosity.

"And what is that?" she asked with irritation clear in her voice.

"I want you to get in touch with Torchwick, I have a couple of transcripts that need to be forged and he seems like the one who would know the best person to forge them," explained the Death Knight.

For a brief moment Cinder considered demanding who these transcripts were for before she sighed, he would probably only tell her lies anyway. Besides at this late in the plan they could not afford to lose the support of the White Fang, not to mention keep an eye on this new faction forming.

"Very well, I will make the arrangements," she conceded, and walked out with Adam.

The Death Knight watched as Cinder, Emerald and Mercury, all began walking out of the hideout and into the wilderness surround the White Fang encampment. _'Milord, it is done. I have revealed myself to the Servant of Salem_ … _she was a Maiden_ ,' informed Adam, through his mental connection to his King.

' _A Maiden, are you sure? Was it the one we were after?'_ asked the voice of the Lich King in his head as Adam returned to the private tent, beckoning for his lieutenant to follow him.

' _No it was not the Winter Maiden or we would not have been having this conversation. I decided to let her live as per your previous orders_ , replied Adam, checking to make sure the tent was secure before motioning for his lieutenant to take a seat.

' _I see, it is troubling that a Maiden would side with Salem. Tell me, do you think you could beat her?'_ interrogated Jaune.

Seating down in the seat opposite his lieutenant Adam frowned as he replied, _'in a straight one on one fight as she is now? Yes. Somehow she has been weakened immensely and I only needed to use my basic abilities to beat her. At full power though…I doubt I could beat her by myself. However, outnumbered and if caught by surprise, I believe I could kill her for you. If you wish for me to kill her though, now is the best opportunity we could get.'_

' _No, remember capture of the Maidens is the top priority, let her go for now. I'll have some servants keep an eye on her, if we're lucky she will lead us to the other Maidens. Besides I need her to report back to Salem of your presence,'_ ordered the Lich King.

' _I understand, with her attention focused on us and Northrend, it will blind her to your presence in Vale,'_ answered Adam, getting an approving feeling from his connection.

' _Exactly, have the transcripts sent to the drop off location once they are ready,_ ' commanded Jaune.

' _It will be done, milord,'_ acknowledged Adam, before turning his attention back to the present and his lieutenant.

"Lieutenant, gather our most skilled and loyal soldiers. We're relocating," he ordered getting a salute from his subordinate.

"Might I ask where sir?" replied the lieutenant as he stood up from his chair.

An odd smile spread across Adam's face, "to meet our new partners and suppliers."

* * *

To anyone stepping off the airship the pair would have looked like two Hunters-in-training about to start their first week at Beacon, and yet something just seemed…off about them. For their part Blake and Jaune just kept walking towards the campus grounds, seemingly uncaring for the people subconsciously keeping their distance from them.

Blake had kept her usual outfit but had placed the newly developed light Saronite armour beneath her clothes and now had a Frostweave cloak with the hood up, hiding all but Adam's mask and the bottom of her pale face from view. The mask itself had been repainted black where it was white but still kept its old red patterns, as it hid the Death Knights glowing blue eyes from view.

In contrast to his Death Knight's lightly armoured form, Jaune himself had his old knight armour restored and remade with slivers of Saronite. His face in full view of others as the blonde teen looked around the building with mock wonder plastered over his face. Unlike his companion there was no blue smoky glow coming from his bright baby blue eyes, making him grateful for taking some Kel'Thuzad's lessons while still alive, Frostmourne remaining sheathed around his belt.

"Milord, was it really a wise idea to use your real name for the forged transcripts? If this Ozpin is who you think he is, won't he notice this?" questioned Blake in her icy voice.

"Blake quiet!" hissed Jaune as he quickly glanced around them. "I told you to refer to me as Jaune at all times while I'm here."

The Death Knight flinched slightly before nodding, "sorry…Jaune. But my point still stands…isn't that a needless risk? Using your real name?"

Jaune just sighed, "that's the point Blake, if Ozpin is who I think he is, then he won't resist taking the time to study me. It will draw him out, after all, you said that Lordaeron is considered a myth at this point."

"And if he does take an interesting in you? I will die to protect you but against a headmaster…it would be a short fight," pointed out his bodyguard.

"Then it's a good thing that is not your purpose here, if he should take offensive action you already have your orders. Sindragosa is hiding just outside the city, I am confident that I can hold him off long enough for her to arrive and escape in the chaos you shall cause if I cannot beat him," replied Jaune before they both heard a massive explosion and immediately Blake was in front of him, Gambol Shroud glowing brightly with runes.

However, when no attack came Jaune pushed her aside and saw a red hooded girl being yelled at by a soot covered girl in white, the blonde teen recognizing the powdered dust in the containers. "That's the heiress to the Schnee dust company, the White Fang have been after her for years," informed Blake as she stowed her weapons.

"Interesting, for an heiress to a dust company she doesn't understand basic dust storage, never shake your containers," replied Jaune as they watched the heiress storm off with her servants in tow.

'She's a possible candidate for my next Death Knight, with her connections the Scourge won't need to rely on Salem's forces to arm the White Fang. Still it's too early to make a decision yet, especially with Ozpin's eyes likely on me right now,' thought Jaune as he saw the red girl get off the ground with a sad expression on her face.

"Well let's go make some friends shall we?" shrugged Jaune as he motioned for Blake to follow him and together the pair approached the red hooded girl.

Blake said nothing as she followed after Jaune whom smiled as he walked over to the hooded girl, "hey, having a rough first day?"

The girl just blinked as she turned to face them with a sheepish smile on her face, "that's one way to put it. I'm Ruby Rose but you can just call me Crater Fa-, on second thoughts you can just call me Ruby."

As soon as he saw her silvery eyes Jaune blinked in amazement, 'of all the places to find one of their kind…but they always were powerful warriors so it does make some sense.' Indeed, the Lich King could not believe his luck, here he was planning to hunt down the Maidens and a girl that was part of the 'Check' system appears literally before him. 'Ozpin must be gathering his own allies, Adam mentioned that he was aware of Salem after all,' he thought as the Lich King was snapped out of his excited ramblings upon feeling Frostmourne's icy cold influence seep back into his mind.

Jaune nodded as he introduced himself, "my name's Jaune Arc, short, sweet, rolls off the tongue, ladies love it."

"Do they?" asked Ruby with raised eyebrows.

Jaune just shrugged as he gestured to his Death Knight, "why don't we ask my talkative friend here. So what do you think Blake, isn't my name just the hottest thing you've ever heard."

The Death Knight glanced at her King before looking away into the sun as she replied, "as hot as Northrend's winter."

Jaune's eyes widened slightly at this brief display of emotion but before he could examine his servant further they were interrupted by soft giggling coming from Ruby. "Wow harsh, better luck next time Lady Killer," grinned the reaper in amusement.

Making a mental note to keep an eye on his prototype Death Knight, Jaune just laughed along with Ruby as the trio began walking towards the big building. He knew that his servants would have more freedom while he neglected wearing the Helm of Domination but if pieces of their old self stayed with them…well it would make infiltration easier he supposed if Blake actually displayed even a fraction of the personality she once had. The problem was…would she regain her sense of morality? For the first time Jaune was glad she had become a Death Knight in his service willingly. That being said he would have to assign Kel'Thuzad to keep a careful watch over Adam while he was here. He doubted the Faunus Death Knight would try anything after seeing how powerful he was but…well better safe than sorry after all.

"So...I got this thing!" exclaimed Ruby in excitement as she unsheathed Crescent Rose, surprising both of them and making Blake nearly blow her cover as she grabbed Gambol Shroud, only for Jaune to instantly grab her arm.

This was his first real opportunity to examine the weapons of these 'Hunters' and Jaune was definitely going to take advantage of it. "Is that a scythe?" he asked, curious as to why a farming tool was now a weapon of war.

"It's also a customizable high-impact sniper rifle!" explained Ruby in an eager tone, getting a confused expression from Jaune.

'What does that mean? Should I know what type of weapon that is?' he questioned as Ruby waited on a response from the clueless Lich King. Seeing his confusion Blake decided to intervene as she returned her attention back to the current conversation.

"It's also a gun," she explained to Jaune, who nodded in understanding while Ruby just glanced at him in confusion, wondering who could apply to a Hunters Academy without knowing something as basic as that.

"Oh" replied Jaune as he turned back to Ruby. "That's an interesting design, who came up with it?"

"Um…I did. Every student from Signal forges their own weapons. I thought this was common knowledge?" frowned Ruby, and despite this the smile on Jaune's face never wavered as again he felt Frostmourne's reassuring presence leak into his mind.

"We grew up in an isolated village outside the Kingdoms," lied Blake, getting a nod of understanding from Ruby.

"Oh? It's rare to see people like you here in the city, how do you like Vale so far?" asked Ruby as she tried to connect to the uncooperative Blake.

"It's a bit warmer than what we're used to, but I can't complain about the people they're just so…friendly," lied Jaune, his anger briefly surging through him before hearing the calm whispers of his sword.

The trio than descended into an awkward silence that was broken by Ruby as she examined Blake's weapons and a low gasp escaped her. "That's a Variant Ballistic Chain Scythe! I've never seen one in real life before…or one that has those odd runes carved into it, can I hold it?" begged the reaper as she swayed and her eyes seemed to glaze over slightly as they caught sight of Gambol Shrouds' glowing runes, causing both Blake and Jaune to glance at each other.

Rune weapons were never meant to be handled by anyone but their chosen wielder…and neither of them wanted to explain a comatose girl to the staff on their first day. "No. This weapon has saved my life more times than I can count, no one touches it but me," growled Blake protectively, once again causing Jaune's eyes to narrow slightly.

Ruby looked crestfallen at this before she perked up again in a nanosecond and turned to face Jaune, "so what've you got?"

Trying to keep the reaper happy and also experiment slightly on the poor girl, Jaune reluctantly showed her his sheathed Frostmourne, before drawing the Runeblade out from its scabbard. Ruby's jaw dropped as she took in the beautifully crafted sword as the runes glowed a soft blue.

"Jaune…that's beautiful. I've never seen anything like it before, it doesn't even match any sword styles of the four Kingdoms. Where did you find it?" commented Ruby as the sword once again glowed an alluring azure colour, almost begging her to come and claim it.

"How do you know all that? And what makes you think I didn't forge it myself?" frowned Jaune, partially snapping Ruby out of her daze.

"I'm a bit of a weapons nut. Uncle Qrow always said that if being a Huntress didn't work out I would gladly be hired as a weapons designer by multiple companies," replied Ruby, never taking her eyes off the hypnotically glowing blade before her.

"But how do you know I didn't make it myself?" demanded Jaune, a small nugget of concern for the girl growing within him as he saw Ruby's eyes follow Frostmourne, only for the feeling to die as he remembered the dead friends and family he had lost because of the Kingdoms.

'If this is the effect Frostmourne has on them just from being unsheathed…I might need to find a new weapon. At least we know that Runeblades can effect those with their aura unlocked, hopefully Blake's is too new and weak to have the same pull as Frostmourne,' hoped Jaune as he slapped Ruby's hand away from his Runeblade.

This seemed to have no effect at all as Ruby again, calmly tried to reach out to the Runeblade as she replied, "because the metal isn't normal…and it's so _old_. Ancient even, there is no way it could have been forged by you…I…I want it…"

Deciding the experiment had gone on long enough Jaune quickly sheathed Frostmourne and watched with a frown as Ruby shock her head as she stopped swaying and her eyes returned to normal. "Sorry, I'm not usually like that, I…I don't know what came over me," apologized Ruby with a frantic expression.

Jaune smiled as he waved off her apology, "it's fine Ruby, and as for your question…the blade was a family heirloom. I can't blame you for wanting to touch it, Frostmourne is a beautiful blade."

"Frostmourne?" muttered Ruby as she rolled the name over her tongue before her eyes seemed to sparkle. "You name your weapons too! I thought Crescent Rose and I were the only ones!"

Neither of the two Undead had anything to say at this sudden outburst as Ruby linked arms with them and dragged the two towards the auditorium. "Wow, you two are cold as ice," she exclaimed, again getting no reply from her two 'friends.'

Throughout it all one image burned itself into Ruby's mind as they walked into the auditorium, the beautifully glowing Frostmourne as whispers began begging her to claim the blade. The reaper shook her head, trying to get the thoughts out of her head. After all, as beautiful as the blade was there was no way she'd trade her Crescent Rose for anything…right? So why did she keep wanting to touch that blade, why did it keep calling to her. Ruby frowned as Frostmourne, unknown to anyone but Jaune, started glowing softly within its sheath and the voices in the reaper's head softly whispered in the background of her mind. 'Maybe…I could convince Jaune to let me hold it briefly?' she theorized, only to be snapped out of her thoughts as she heard her sister's loud voice.

"Ruby! Over here! I saved you a spot!" cried Yang, making the reaper turn to face them before waving and running off.

Blake and Jaune were silent as the watched her go before the Lich King turned to his Death Knight, "keep an eye on her and if you have the opportunity…take her out. I want her as my newest servant. In the meantime, we should begin looking for Beacon's water storage."

"Understood," replied Blake and they were about to leave the auditorium when a man walked onto the stage, a cane in one hand and a coffee in the other.

* * *

"Well he definitely fits my sister's description of him, if nothing else. Tell me, what do the White Fang know of Ozpin's history?" demanded Jaune, as the pair headed to their designated sleeping area.

Blake frowned as she shook her head, "nothing. Despite his near worldwide fame…he is like a ghost in the system before he took over Beacon Academy. Even the Ruling Councils have little to no knowledge of his past."

"And they put a man like that in charge of an academy to train aura warriors? Are they asking for a rebellion?" scoffed the blonde as they rolled out their sleeping bags, not that the two Undead even required sleep but they had to keep up appearances.

"So how will we know if Ozpin took the bait?" asked the Death Knight.

Jaune frowned and was about to reply when he noticed one of the teachers, the blonde woman from the stage, walking over to them and motioned for Blake to prepare for combat. "Mr. Jaune Arc I presume?" asked the instructor, getting a nod from the blonde.

"You have a package here from your family," she announced, causing the Lich King to glance at his servant with an almost smug look in his eyes.

"My family? That's great, I haven't heard from them in a while. Thanks for this Miss?" he prompted with fake cheer as he took a large package from the teacher.

The teacher's expression just grew sour at this as she replied, "Glynda Goodwitch, your combat instructor. Something that you would know if you two actually paid attention to our welcome to Beacon."

"Sorry, we kind of had a lot of things on our mind. Right Blake?" he explained, turning to his Death Knight.

"Indeed," nodded the Death Knight, causing Glynda to glance at her with a frown as her gaze fell upon the mask but said nothing as the teacher walked off.

"Well, let's see just what my dear 'family' left me, shall we?" he asked, only to freeze as he opened the package.

"Leave me," demanded Jaune in a soft tone as he stared at the objects before him, an unreadable expression on his face.

"Milord?" whispered Blake in a confused voice.

"NOW!" shouted the Lich King, even as Frostmourne began glowing bright blue as its icy presence failed to eliminate the emotions flowing through the teen's body.

The Death Knight didn't even pack up her sleeping bag, she just grabbed her backpack and weapons and rushed towards the opposite end of the room, getting curious looks from the nearby observers. Jaune didn't pay her any attention as he stared at the two weapons, long buried memories surfacing as he stared at the Twin Crescent Moons emblazoned onto them.

" _Okay Little Brother, think you can hold down the fort while I'm gone?" asked Amber, as she ruffled his hair._

" _I'll do better than you will with that useless shield," laughed Jaune as he pointed to Amber's family heirloom, a shield proudly bearing the twin moons of the Arc family._

 _Amber just shook her head in exasperation, "a shield is not useless Jaune, you would know that if you actually trained with one."_

 _The Crown Prince just laughed, "thanks but I think I'll stick to my two-hander and just use my aura and armour as protection. Oum, knows I have enough of it to spare. After all, the best defense is a good offense, they can't hurt me if they're already dead."_

 _The Older Arc sighed in disappointment at her younger sibling's tone, "Jaune, a shield isn't just a weapon…it's a symbol. A symbol that you will do everything to protect those you care for, that you value their lives."_

 _Amber than turned to the two-handed longsword in her brother's hand and frowned, "a sword's purpose can be easily corrupted, protecting lives by taking others. But when do you stop? When do we take it too far? When does killing to save lives become killing to sate your own desires?"_

" _Do you see now? A sword can be used for horrible things but a shield will always stay pure in its purpose. It will always protect others, no matter what," concluded his sister._

 _The Crown Prince just shrugged as an amused smirk crossed his face, "clearly you've never heard of shield bashing my dear sister."_

 _Amber just gave a sad smile towards her younger brother, "it seems you really don't get it. I just hope you figure it out before you turn out like the rest of our family has."_

 _And without another word Amber and her forces rode off, leaving Jaune and his troops to think over what she had said. As he watched her heroic form gleaming in the distant sunlight, Jaune decided that he would asked her about what she meant with her last comment when she got back before he headed off into the capital._

 _That was the last time he would ever see his sister again…_

The Lich King was finally pulled out of his memories as Frostmourne whispered reassurances in his mind, trying to purge the wild emotions surging through the Undead. The sword glowing a bright visible blue within its sheath which only grew brighter as Jaune's gaze fell upon the sword next.

It was an exact replica of Crocea Mors down to the very last detail…

In fact, for a brief moment he even thought it was the original, but that was impossible…he had seen the royal sword shatter. Hadn't he? And yet despite his best efforts he couldn't find a single fault in this fake. 'That bastard Ozpin, what is he playing at? Making mockeries of my families weapons, it's not enough that he let them die but he has to spit on their graves as well?' thought the furious Lich King.

He wanted to throw these weapons away, he wanted to destroy these mimics of his family's Royal Treasures…and yet the practical part of his mind prevented him from doing so. If these were truly sent from Ozpin than to do so would raise too many questions, plus after seeing the effect Frostmourne had on Ruby he did decide to only use the Runeblade if he could get away with it.

And so with great reluctance he placed the two weapons near his sleeping bag and pretended to get some sleep, all the while Frostmourne glowed softly as it tried to calm the sea of confused emotions swirling within its wielder. The Helm of Domination doing the same from its hidden compartment within the blonde's luggage. For the rest of the Hunters-in-training the night would be remembered as the coldest one in the history of Vale.

* * *

Ruby shivered from the growing cold as she was dragged by Yang to Blake after seeing the mysterious girl sitting alone in a corner reading a book by candlelight. "Come on Ruby, you said you two didn't have a chance to talk much, well now is your chance," encouraged Yang as the blonde continued dragging her uncooperative sister to the black haired girl.

"Hellooooo! I believe you two may know each other?" called Yang, making Blake look up from her book before nodding as she returned to reading silently.

"Hello Ruby, is something wrong?" she asked, getting confused looks from the sisters.

"Ah…no? Does something have to be? We just wanted to come say hi. You looked kind of alone, where is Jaune?" asked Ruby, getting a face palm from her sister for standing on such an obvious land mine.

"He wished to be alone," replied Blake gruffly, the hints of anger seeping into her voice causing the sisters to drop the subject.

"What are you doing?" hissed Yang to her sister, not knowing that Blake's enhanced hearing could pick out every word.

"I don't know, help me!" whispered Ruby in response before they both turned to Blake with identical smiles on their faces.

"So…aren't you cold dressed in that? Granted that cloak looks pretty warm," mused Yang.

"And cool! I love cloaks too, maybe we can be cloak buddies?" asked the reaper with an excited expression on her face.

Blake gave no response as she just stared up at the two of them before returning to her book, clearly done with the conversation. "Yeah, this girl's a lost cause," informed Yang as she began looking around for the boy her sister had met.

"What in the world is going on over here?! Don't you realize some of us are trying to sleep?" shouted a shrill voice as Weiss stormed over to them.

Weiss and Yang just blink as they stared at each other before they cried in unison, "oh, not you again!"

"Shh! Guys, she's right! People are trying to sleep!" cried Ruby, rushing over to stop a fight from breaking out.

Weiss turned to face her and argue further but her rant died unspoken in her throat as she stared at Blake, or more specifically her _mask_. Instantly the heiress' eyes narrowed to slits before an almost rage filled expression crossed her face. Unlike the angered look she had sent Ruby and her sister, this one was a true anger and both the sisters flinched at the hate held within that one glance. Weiss literally looked ready to _kill_ Blake as soon as she glimpsed that mask. For her part Blake just subtly began unsheathing Gambol Shroud from its sheath as the heiress slowly walked over to her.

"Where did you get that mask from?" growled the Schnee heiress, seeing Adam's repainted mask gleaming in the candlelight.

It seemed to Ruby that Blake had stiffened slightly before she replied in a voice that held a hint of pain within it, "from an old… friend? Partner? Acquaintance? I don't know it's hard to remember…but he's gone now."

"I know the feeling I lost someone very close to me when I was young, it took a while to get over their death," muttered Yang softly, and suddenly Weiss felt like she might have intruded on something very personal.

At this Blake shook their head, "I didn't say they were dead just…gone. He was replaced by something else, now it's just someone else wearing his skin…I made sure of that."

'A lover's spat or a family fight? Maybe they didn't approve of her and Jaune coming to become to Beacon?' pondered Ruby and she flinched upon realising how important that mask was to Blake, memories of her own mother's white cloak springing to her mind.

"I'm sorry to hear that," the reaper said, eventually.

"Don't be," replied Blake flatly as she finally put the book down, realising that she wouldn't get anymore reading done until these three were gone. "Trust me, he wasn't the kind of person you'd want to meet."

"Then why do you sound so conflicted by this?" asked Ruby, causing Blake to look up at her with a confused frown just barely visible on her face.

Blake was silent for a bit and it seemed like she wouldn't reply before she finally spoke up softly, "because in his last moments…he realized his mistakes, he tried to convince me to help him, to keep our people safe. But I was just so angry at him."

"Sounds to me like he redeemed himself in the end, maybe he just wanted your forgiveness? He must have cared for you," smiled Ruby, while Yang and Weiss just looked between the two in confusion over this suddenly very dark topic.

"One good deed does not forgive a lifetime of wickedness, Ruby Rose," growled Blake, before her voice dropped to a soft whisper. "No matter how much we may want it to…once a monster, always a monster. And monsters never get happy endings."

"Is that why you read that book?" asked Ruby, as she finally noticed the book held in Blake's hand.

The masked girl just nodded and quoted in response, "she knew her nature. She would recognize it if she came face-to-face with it. It would be a blue-eyed green-eyed monster, wolflike and snarling. A vicious beast that struck out at friends in uncontrollable anger, a killer that offered itself as a vessel of the king's fury."

"Do you know how that book ends Blake?" replied the reaper with a smile as Blake shook her head.

Seeing this Ruby took a deep breath as she quoted the ending passage, "but then it was a strange monster, for beneath its exterior it was frightened and sickened by its own violence. It chastised itself for its savagery. And sometimes it had no heart for violence and rebelled against it utterly."

"A monster that refused, sometimes, to behave like a monster. When a monster stopped behaving like a monster, did it stop being a monster? Did it become something else? Perhaps she wouldn't recognize her own nature after all," concluded the reaper softly, before a flush grew on her face as she saw everyone staring at her in various states of shock.

"Oh, I am so proud of my baby sister!" exclaimed Yang as she nearly crushed her squirming sister in a massive hug.

"You still haven't explained who this friend was? Or why he had one of _those_ masks! Oh don't look surprised. You might have repainted it but I recognize those designs anywhere!" demanded Weiss, apparently regaining her steam after this conversation.

"I don't see how that is any of your business Weiss Schnee," replied Blake, and the other three girls could have sworn that, just for an instant, they saw a blue glow come from the eyeholes in the mask.

"Fine," huffed the heiress as she turned to storm off. "But I'll be keeping my eye on you, _Faunus_."

Ruby and Yang just turned to look at Blake in shock at this accusation, before the Faunus sighed as she put her hood down to reveal her cat ears for the two to see.

"Yes I'm a Faunus, do either of you have a problem with that?" she growled out, waiting for the predictable prejudice to occur.

"Those ears…they're so _cute_! Can I touch them?" exclaimed Ruby, surprising Blake as Yang nodded in agreement.

The Faunus just shook her head in exasperation as she came to one conclusion, it was going to be a long night…and yet unknown to even herself, a small smile had formed on her otherwise blank face. However, after a brief glow from Gambol Shroud's blue runes, the smile was gone and replaced by the Death Knight's usual blank expression.

* * *

Jaune blinked as he watched the other students groggily rising from their slumber, most of them still shivering from the cold of last night. He briefly entertained the thought of pretending to eat food before deciding against it as he began packing up his equipment. His eyes narrowed as he noticed that Blake still had yet to return to her sleeping bag, causing him to look around to find her.

Sure enough he found her reading a book near Ruby and a blonde girl that Jaune didn't know, upon feeling his gaze on her Blake looked up from her book and saw him. Gathering her equipment, she walked over to him and began packing up her sleeping bag. Jaune watched her briefly as a small bit of guilt appeared in his mind before being drowned out by Frostmourne's whispers.

"Who's the blonde?" he asked his Death Knight.

"Ruby's sister, though I'm not sure if they are blood related or not," replied hooded girl.

"Is she strong?" replied Jaune, his unspoken question hanging in the air.

 _Is she a candidate?_

"Unknown, I haven't seen any indication of her combat level, but the mere fact that she made it to Beacon speaks volumes of her ability," answered the Death Knight after a moment's hesitation.

"I suppose…I'll have the White Fang run a background check on her as well as Ruby and decide based off the information," plotted Jaune as the two walked towards the lockers.

Seeing Ruby and Yang beginning to wake up in the corner of his eye he turned back to Blake, "stay close to them for now, and for the love of Oum at least try to be social. We need them to lower their guards."

Blake nodded but didn't move away as she appeared to frown slightly, "sir last night there was a…complication."

Instantly Jaune froze and for a brief moment the wispy blue glow returned to his eyes, " **what happened?** "

Blake flinched at her King's tone before she replied in a hesitate voice, "the Schnee heiress…she recognized Adam's mask. She knows it's design…I'm sorry milord, I didn't think anyone would know the individual pattern."

For a moment there was silence as Jaune glared at her, "you mean the mask I frequently told you to get rid of and replace at the first opportunity has been recognized?"

Again Blake flinched at the sharp tone in his voice, "yes milord."

Eventually Jaune just sighed, "well it's too late now, you've been seen with it. The damage has been done, now we just need to commence damage control. Keep wearing the mask, at this point it will raise too many question to replace it."

"Understood," replied Blake, a faint hint of relief seeping into her tone. "What about the heiress? I could take her out."

"No, not this early into the year, I'll keep an eye on her. If push comes to shove…well accidents are known to happen during battle with Grimm," answered Jaune, getting a nod from the Death Knight.

Looking over Blake's shoulder a slight smirk appeared on Jaune's face despite himself as he nodded to something behind her. "It looks like your 'friends' are waiting for you," he said, causing Blake to turn and see Ruby and Yang fully changed and looking at the two of them with knowing grins on their faces before they both gave the Faunus a thumbs up.

"Best not to keep them waiting," ordered Jaune as he walked into the lockers in search for the Schnee heiress, leaving Blake behind.

It didn't take long for the blonde to find the distinctive white hair of the heiress as she conversed with an equally distinctive red head in bronze armour. Putting on his friendliest smile Jaune walked over to them, the heiress spotting him approaching with a thoughtful frown on her face that eventually turned to a wide eyed stare.

"It's not very polite to stare you know," commented the Lich King as he got within hearing range, causing the red head to turn and face him with an equally curious and suspicious look on her face.

"Sorry, I'm just surprised to see someone of your status here," commented Weiss as she looked at Jaune.

The Lich King nearly broke character as he had to consciously stop his hand from reaching for Frostmourne and replied, "what do you mean?"

The heiress smiled, "you try to hide it but the way you carry yourself is the same as royalty. Only those from very distinguished families would teach their children to act that way."

'She's dangerous, I never thought something like that would give me away. If it wasn't for Blake's mess I'd be keeping my distance from her but as it is now I have no choice,' decided Jaune as he shrugged to the heiress' unspoken question.

"I would appreciate it if you didn't spread that around, I just want to be treated as a normal student," replied Jaune, getting surprised looks from the two girls for very different reasons.

"Of course, I understand how you feel believe me," sighed the red head as she gave Jaune a smile of kinship that he then returned.

Weiss just looked between the two of them in surprise before she smiled at him, "well now that that's out of the way how about we introduce each other? Weiss Schnee, heiress to the Schnee Dust Company."

"Jaune Arc," replied the Lich King as he kissed the heiress on the back of her hand, causing a slight blush to appear on Weiss' face.

"Arc? I can't say I've ever heard of that family before," she replied with a confused expression on her face.

Jaune just laughed, "and you won't, believe me."

"An alias?" guessed the red head, getting a nod from the Lich King.

"I hope you don't mind, but a secret known by one person is the easiest to keep. Besides, it doesn't matter what my name is, at Beacon we are all equal," replied Jaune, making them both blink in surprise.

"I agree wholeheartedly Jaune, I just wish I had thought of doing the same as you," sighed the red head.

Smiling at this Jaune than turned to the red head and upon recognizing the Mistral styled armour, gave her a Mistral warrior's salute. The red head's eyes widened before she smiled and returned the gesture, albeitly it was slightly different than what Jaune remembered but he supposed that time spent in stasis can do that.

"And who might you be miss?" he asked, causing the two girls to freeze.

"You don't recognize her?" asked Weiss as both she and her companion started studying his face for any signs of deception.

And found none…

Realising he may have compromised himself Jaune put on a sheepish smile as he replied, "I had a very isolated childhood. Most of my time I spent training, I'm afraid. My apologies if I offended you."

However, in contrast the red headed girl's shocked expression morphed a giant smile as she replied, "none taken. It's a pleasure to meet you Jaune, my name is Pyrrha Nikos."

"Pyrrha huh?" repeated Jaune, making a mental note to ask Blake about her after later. "How about I call you Pyr? It's not an alias but it's a nickname at least."

Pyrrha just smiled, "I think that's a grand idea."

Seeing the two girls smiling happily at him Jaune laughed as he spoke up, hoping to get some more information. "So I don't suppose you two know what the initiation's going to be?" he asked, curiously.

Pyrrha just frowned, "I'm not sure, they keep it a closely guarded secret. I do know that this is where we will be placed into our teams for the next couple of years."

'Hopefully this infiltration won't take that long,' mused Jaune as he briefly wondered how Kel'Thuzad and Anub'arak were handling his absence, only to dismiss this worry entirely. They had been fine while he was recovering on his throne, they could handle a couple of more months, besides these 'Hunter Academies' were the perfect 'recruiting' grounds.

"Would all first-year students please report to Beacon Cliff for initiation? Again, all first-year students report to Beacon Cliff immediately," came Glynda's voice over the PA system.

"Well we'd best be off," said Weiss as she and Pyrrha double checked their equipment.

"After you Snow Angel," charmed Jaune, getting another blush from the heiress as they headed for the meeting point.

* * *

 **Omake: The Incompetent King**

There she was, her beauty causing his undead heart to flutter just from the mere sight of such a thing, truly it must have been perfection incarnate. But she was trapped in this box! He had to get her out, he had to be her Knight in shining armour!

"Blake! Help me get her out of there!" he ordered hastily, causing the Death Knight to just look at him with an eyebrow raised.

"Jaune what are you doing?" she sighed, already done with dealing with his shenanigans.

"She's trapped inside this magical device, my future bride. We have to get her out of there!" he shouted, drawing curious looks from the observers nearby as the Lich King turned back to the box. "Can you hear me?! Don't worry I'll get you out of there!"

"No, Jaune. We've caused enough problems as it is," replied the Death Knight.

The Lich King just swerved to face her with a determined expression on his face, "I'm going to free her, with or without you."

The Faunus just sighed tiredly, "you don't understand that's a-"

"It doesn't matter what it is, no prison can withstand Frostmourne!" shouted the Lich King as he unsheathed his sword.

"Jaune NO STOP!" shouted Blake as she rushed forwards, but was too late as sparks flew everywhere and the crowd watched wide jaws opened wide as the Runeblade sank into the device before retracting.

"Jaune, that was a TV you just destroyed," groaned Blake.

"What kind of prison is this TV? To be able to trap people within itself like this," asked Jaune as he sheathed Frostmourne.

"A TV isn't a pris-" began Blake, only to be interrupted by a familiar voice echoing down the halls.

"What's going on here!" demanded a female voice.

Jaune just turned to face this new person with tears in his eyes as he cheered, "it worked! I freed you my princess!"

The Lich King than dropped to one knee as he looked up at the girl, "truly only one as beautiful as you can fit to be my bride. Tell me will you rule over my Kingdom with me as my little Ice Queen?"

Weiss Schnee just stared at the moron before her that had just so boldly asked her such a question before an angered expression grew on her face as she unsheathed Myrtenaster. Blake just shook her head as an oddly feminine scream echoed across the halls, every male within hearing range briefly shuddered as they cup the family jewels and tears of sympathy ran down their cheeks.

* * *

 **Well there we go the newest chapter. Done and Dusted. So a few people might be wondering why Blake carried the mask and revealed herself to be a Faunus so early on. I did that to demonstrate how her mental state has changed due to becoming a Death Knight. She has both more and less emotions in certain areas compared to the canon character. Hopefully I don't get a lot of hate for that.**

 **As always hope you guys liked it, for those who read Holding All the Cards, the next chapter for that is currently being worked on and will be the next story to be updated.**


	6. The Opening Move

**Alright first I want to apologise for taking so long, but first it was exams and now I've been working for most days so I haven't had time to really write. Also don't expect all chapters to be this long, I usually aim for around 4000 words per chapter but this chapter was just so much to cover. It isn't a very action packed chapter but more of a world building one, anyway hope you guys enjoy.**

 **Question time:**

 **Dreaming of Glory: Sorry I thought most people would know of WoW and Warcraft so I didn't go into it much. Here is a brief explanation of the WoW stuff. In WoW Mana or Holy Power is usually used to cast spells but Death Knights instead use Runic Power to fuel their spells. This power is from the unnatural magical energies that grow within them when they are raised as Death Knights.**

 **The Runes on a Death Knight's blade are used as a catalyst for the more advanced spells, e.g. it costs one Rune's power to cast an advanced spell. While basic ones like Death Coil and Death's Grip cost no Runes to activate.**

 **As for the effect of Rune's and Runeblades, it is heavily implied in the games that Runeblades, especially the older and powerful ones, have their own sentience. Generally, this sentience isn't very advanced but usually it 'helps' their wielders by erasing any unwanted emotions, i.e. stress, fear, even anger to some extent, essentially it's what allows them to keep a level head under extreme circumstances. Next if anyone other than their chosen wielders touch them, it can corrupt their minds, but at the same time they have an alluring aura around them trying to attract others. Basically think of them as having a similar effect to the One ring from Lord of the Rings.**

 **Hope that helped.**

 **Noob6: I'll try to make it epic for you mate, as for Ruby…no comment…**

 **halo is bad ass: You just gave me a good idea for if I ever want to make the Forsaken a thing.**

 **Crazywaffle: I will try to make Tyrion in character when I get around to writing him, unfortunately I find his characters to be the hardest for me to write, since generally I'll try to understand a bit about a character before writing them. But I just really struggle getting into those kind of character's mindsets…probably a good thing if I'm honest.**

 **Amvmaster: Nah mate, the Incompetent King will stay as an omake.**

 **DanteNaru: The Dragon Flights are not gone, they are just slumbering. And yes they will be in this story.**

 **Jack Redhawke: Thanks for the heads up.**

 **arthas 12: To be a Lich you need lots of skill in Necromancy, which means most of the new recruits don't have time to learn the necessary skill. Which means Death Knights make it the next best thing, especially since most of the Death Knights were made by killing mortal champions, erasing their memories and raising the corpses with their souls are still bound to the body.**

 **Pokewarrior: Nice, it will be a battle for the title of the 'Ice Queen.'**

 **The Megaevolved Pony: The Worgren would be easy to add in, but I don't think I'll add the orcs. At least not until later in the story. As for your OC, I might use him. Do you have any preferences about where he's from originally? The White Fang? Raven's Bandits? Beacon? Torchwick gang? Or somewhere else entirely?**

* * *

It had been a week since Adam had brought his most skilled and loyal troops into Northrend to train and they were finally starting to show progress. Say what you would about Kel'Thuzad but the Lich was a damn good teacher. Already half the people he had brought over had been showing signs of limited Necromancy skills. Raising freshly killed Grimm or skeletons designed to teach novice mages, so far they struggled to maintain control over more than three Undead each but the mere fact that they could raise the dead in the first place was a much-needed surprise.

Even those who had no skill in magic were being taught how to carve runes into their weapons and armour, already the Prototype Paladins from Cinder were beginning to be engraved with runes by their various pilots. Something neither Adam nor Kel'Thuzad had predicted and yet the results were astounding, the dust powering the mechs actually combining with the magical runes as well as the pilot's aura to power the magical runes without any skill in actual magic by the wielder. This was both good news and bad.

It meant that even those without any talent in magic could be used by the Scourge as pilots, but at the same time if the machines were stolen…well the enemy had just gotten their hands on rune magic enhanced mechs…not a very desirable outcome. Both he and Kel'Thuzad had agreed that a failsafe would need to be implemented into these newly made mechs, preferably linked to the aura of the assigned pilot or a similar sentience as found in the Runeblades. But first, they would need to be field tested to see if they were worth the investment to improve. The initial results against unmodified spare mechs had been promising but they had yet to undergo a proper combat test.

It could be worse though, the living members of the White Fang had seemed to finally be adjusting to the numerous Undead they were now working with. It was a very rocky start and if it wasn't for Adam vouching for the Scourge then the White Fang would have attacked immediately. It wasn't until they were shown the power the Scourge were offering them that they began to put aside their inhibitions. It didn't hurt that they were all introduced to Northrend's history, and that Lordaeron did in fact exist here. For Faunus, the stories of the Utopia Lordaeron were well known, a Kingdom where they were never treated poorly, where everyone was equal. Truly all Faunus wished that such a place could be real, but it was accepted to be a story and nothing more.

Upon learning that such a place did exist once upon a time they were shocked, and as they were looking out over the now frozen wasteland, they felt seeds of hatred for the Kingdoms beginning to take root in their minds for the Kingdom's role in the destruction of their utopia. Seeds that Adam and Kel'Thuzad were all too happy to cultivate and grow. It was still a work in progress but it seemed that the White Fang were finally beginning to adapt and even thrive in this new environment.

With that thought in mind Adam then turned as he heard the sound of low chanting and felt the now familiar feeling of necrotic energy massing nearby, his eyes falling upon Kel'Thuzad whom was currently teaching the magically gifted members of the White Fang forces he had brought with him the basics of Necromancy. The Lich himself was beside himself in satisfaction, and if anything seemed to be enjoying teaching his skills to the novices. 'Perhaps he was a teacher before this?' mused Adam as the Death Knight watched the practicing mages before turning back to the one of the numerous stored airships being taken apart.

"Incredible isn't it? To think that the Kingdoms have advance so much without the use of magic, I must say I'm impressed with their ingenuity," muttered a familiar voice as he turned to see the Lich slowly approaching him, having dismissed his class to go practice on the skeletons and corpses scattered around the newly forming compound.

"Indeed, ingenuity is what has kept them from extinction after all these years. How is the reverse engineering of the Dust technology progressing?" asked Adam, as the pair turned back to the airship being dissembled in front of them.

"Surprisingly well, the White Fang forces you brought over have enough experience with Dust and some are even engineers. They have been proving themselves to be invaluable to our cause, already we have plans to begin construction of our own floating fortress, mixing magic with technology to create superior air power," replied the Lich in an excited tone.

"Speaking of which, what about food? They are not Undead like us, they will require sustenance in order to operate and our rations can only last so long," pointed out the Death Knight, getting a hum of agreement from the Lich.

"We have started defrosting the area around the ruins of Stratholme, the soil there is still as fertile as it was during Lordaeron's time, perhaps even more so after the amount of dead fertilized it," replied the Lich.

"As for meat, I have sent out Undead Grimm to hunt down and capture animals. I will leave the caring and domestication of the livestock in the living's capable hands," continued Kel'Thuzad, getting a nod from Adam.

"I didn't know that our King had the power to control the land to that extent," commented Adam, getting raspy chuckles from the Lich.

"The power of our King in his own Domain is limitless, this land belonged to him and his family long before the Scourge ever existed. And so it serves his will, truly only the Maiden's themselves are capable of overriding his influence over the land and even then only for a short while," explained the amused Kel'Thuzad.

A frown seemed to briefly cross Adam's face at this news, "if the Maidens are such threats then why don't we eliminate them? Why bother capturing them alive at all?"

"Because killing them would serve no purpose, the power would just move on to another. But if they were captured…well stasis is a viable option. However, I believe the real reason is that our King has another experiment he wants to try on a live Maiden," informed Kel'Thuzad.

"I see, how are the mage's training progressing?" he asked, looking out over the frozen hive that had started coming alive in the past few days.

"Good, one of those Faunus is actually extremely gifted in the magical arts. If she continues to improve she might make a good Lich eventually," praised Kel'Thuzad, causing Adam to shrug.

"Deathweaver was always a weird one, I guess this just demonstrates why," replied Adam as he looked back at the rune engraved Paladins.

"Any word from Sienna Khan?" asked the Lich, getting a shake of the head from Adam.

"None, I've had sister Ilia been watching over him and for now he seems to be just buying his time, waiting to see what the Scourge are planning with the White Fang and what we can offer them. Still he seems happy that we got Cinder and her crew to back off slightly," answered the Death Knight in an agitated tone.

"You are restless, why?" noted his companion as Adam returned his attention to the army arrayed below them.

"We have no idea how our forces will deal with the Kingdom's defenses, and I'm not just talking about the White Fang additions. Our Undead have not been tested in a real combat scenario," frowned the Death Knight.

"And what did you have in mind?" questioned the Lich clearly intrigued.

"There are numerous villages that are scattered across Remnant, outside of the Council's authority, they won't care if a couple of those independent villages were destroyed," replied Adam with a cold expression on his face.

"We were ordered not to enter the Kingdom's territories, we don't want to reveal our presence to the Council's yet," reminded the Lich, getting a nod from Adam.

"Which is why the majority of the forces should be comprised of Undead Grimm, it will confuse the Hunters that check on the village, or there is option two," replied Adam with a predatory grin appearing on his face.

"Option two?" repeated Kel'Thuzad with a hint of curiosity as he turned to the Death Knight.

"There is a major group of nomad bandits that have plagued the Kingdoms for years, no one will care or investigate their disappearance. We get actual combat experience against a well-trained foe as well as new recruits once the fight is over," concluded the Death Knight.

"Either option points at Salem being responsible for the villages' destruction. I will have to check with our King, but I think he will agree. Rally your troops Death Knight and meet me at the Atlesian flagship," ordered the Lich.

"You are coming as well? Why?" asked the Death Knight in confusion, knowing how dangerous it was for both Kel'Thuzad and Anub'arak to be absent for Northrend.

"This will be your first time commanding the Scourge, I want to evaluate your ability myself," lied the Lich, causing Adam to frown and nod.

"Very well, I shall make the preparations. But I don't know how we will track the bandits down," he replied.

"You leave that to me," answered Kel'Thuzad as he left the Death Knight to begin his ritual.

* * *

To say that the initiation wasn't what he expected was an understatement, to call the Headmaster of Beacon eccentric was also an understatement. Jaune was honestly wondering if the Headmaster had gone senile in his old age as he stared over the high cliff and into the forest below.

"For years, you have trained to become warriors, and today, your abilities will be evaluated in the Emerald Forest," began Ozpin, snapping the Lich King out of his thoughts.

"Now, I'm sure many of you have heard rumors about the assignment of "teams." Well, allow us to put an end to your confusion. Each of you will be given teammates... today," informed the Headmaster, making Jaune frown as he swore he heard the sound of glass breaking from nearby.

"These teammates will be with you for the rest of your time here at Beacon. So it is in your best interest to be paired with someone with whom you can work well," concluded Ozpin, this time the Lich King hearing the sound of Ruby crying out.

'That's true, a good team needs proper cohesion to be effective in combat,' thought Jaune, remembering back to leading his own troops against the horde of Grimm back in Lordaeron.

"That being said, the first person you make eye contact with after landing will be your partner for the next four years," finished the Headmaster, ignoring Ruby's outburst.

"WHAAAT!" cried the reaper.

'And just like that he's lost most of my respect. How does randomly assigning teammates lead to good team cohesion?' frowned Jaune, his eyes meeting Blake's before glancing over at the depressed reaper and receiving a subtle nod from the Death Knight.

"After you've partnered up, make your way to the northern end of the forest. You will meet opposition along the way. Do not hesitate to destroy everything in your path... or you will die," continued Ozpin in a grim tone.

'I sincerely doubt that, or Beacon students would have a lot more casualties,' thought the Lich King as he grasped the hilt of the copy of his family's relic with hidden distaste, feeling Frostmourne whispering at the back of his mind to abandon the inferior blade.

"You will be monitored and graded through the duration of your initiation, but our instructors will not intervene. You will find an abandoned temple at the end of the path containing several relics. Each pair must choose one and return to the top of the cliff. You will guard that item, as well as your standing, and grade you appropriately. Are there any questions?" asked the Headmaster, getting no response from his audience.

'Damn Blake won't be able to quietly take out Ruby if we're being monitored. A shame this was the best opportunity. Still at least it will give us a chance to evaluate the competition. So how were we actually getting down?' wondered Jaune as he peered over the cliff ledge, only to see the student at the far end get thrown towards the forest by the platform he was standing on. 'I see; this should be interesting…'

The Lich King then braced himself as he felt the metal platform beneath him shudder before being launched into the air, feeling the wind rushing though his hair. The Lich King quickly withdrew Frostmourne, which glowed an icy blue before a slope of ice formed under his feet. Jaune just rode this ice slope down to the bottom of forest before sheathing his sword and spinning around as he heard the sound of braches breaking nearby. The Lich King just reached for the replica sword he now owned as he waited for whatever was hidden within the trees revealed itself.

"Hey Jaune. Looks like we're partners huh?" greeted a familiar female voice.

The Lich King smiled as saw the red headed female in Mistral armour emerging and walk over to him, eyeing the ice slope with wide impressed eyes and instantly causing Jaune to take note of her experienced stride. 'She is no stranger to combat, even by the standards set by Beacon…fascinating. This will require more research,' he decided, his hand resting comfortably on the hilt of his replica.

"Looks like it Pyr. Looking forward to working with you, partner," he replied warmly.

"I feel the same Jaune," replied the Spartan, a soft blush crossing her face as the two began walking through the forest, only for the two of them to freeze suddenly.

"Hold up," ordered Jaune in an experienced tone as he held up a closed fist.

"So you sensed them too," asked Pyrrha, an impressed tone in her voice.

"Of course, I have experience with hunting Grimm," replied Jaune, his hand instinctively going for Frostmourne, only to stop as Jaune remembered the camera's and Pyrrha watching.

'Let's see how these fakes compare to the real thing,' he thought in frustration before taking out the sword and shield combo as a pack of Beowolves emerged from the trees.

"Well shall we?" asked Pyrrha, doing the same with her shield and spear.

"After you, milady," answered Jaune, dodging a Beowolf with a bow, his armour clinking as the protective plates rubbed together.

"Well aren't you the gentlemen," she laughed before her spear transformed into a rifle and she shot the Grimm in the head.

Jaune took note of yet another example of a Hunter's creativity when it came to weapon's design before rounding on a Beowolf and cutting its head off. 'The sword definitely is not ceremonial. Its balance is perfect and the blade is sharp,' he admitted grudgingly as he watched the replica cut through the Grimm's body with ease.

The pair then quickly dispatched the rest of the pack of Beowolves before the Spartan turned to her new partner with a happy smile. "That went well," she cheered, even as she kept her eyes peeled for more Grimm.

"Indeed, but they were only small fry. Come on, I saw some structures in this direction while I was falling," agreed Jaune as he began walking to the direction of the ruins, Pyrrha following after him after a short pause.

"Jaune…can I ask you a question?" she asked, after they had been walking for ten or so minutes and been getting to know each other.

"Sure Pyr. What is it?" replied Jaune, his hand ever so slowly drifting to Frostmourne.

The Spartan was silent for a second as she gave Frostmourne a curious look, "Why do you have two swords? From your style of fighting it's clear that you can wield that two hander on your back much better than the shield and sword combo you currently have, plus it appears to work well with your ice Semblance."

Instantly Jaune's hand stopped as he gave a sad smile as memories of his sister briefly returned before being drowned by Frostmourne's whispers, "It's for personal reasons. As for my training, I was never trained to use a shield properly."

"Oh I'm sorry for bringing up the past," replied Pyrrha, realising that she might have overstepped her bounds.

"It's fine," he answered curtly and the pair continued on in silence before eventually coming to a stop in front of a cave with old marking and inscriptions that Jaune recognized as being Nerubian.

"Think this is it?" asked the Spartan, gazing into the cave with a frown on her face.

"I doubt it. Look at the inscriptions, they are much older than maybe even Beacon itself. Plus, the inscription isn't exactly promising," replied Jaune, getting a surprised look from Pyrrha.

"You can read it?" she asked in an awed tone, making Jaune curse slightly before shrugging.

"Ancient languages are sort of a hobby of mine," he lied, as he walked up to the cave entrance to examine the inscriptions.

'This must have been an entrance to their old cave system, they did used to span all of Remnant. I'll have some servants explore it at a later date,' he decided, running his hand along the inscription surface.

"I see, so what does it say?" questioned Pyrrha, causing Jaune to frown as he knelt down and read the inscriptions

"Danger within, stay out," he read, making the Spartan blink before an equally troubled frown grew on her face.

"I see, perhaps we should leave our own sign in case any other students find it," she suggested, stowing her weapons as she crossed her arms.

"Good idea," agreed Jaune, standing up from the ground.

'Besides, I don't want any students stumbling onto something here until I've had time to explore the cave system thoroughly,' he added silently as the pair chopped down a large tree branch and began carving a warning into the wood.

"Come on, lets head off before whatever's in there wakes up," ordered Jaune as the pair made their way to the ruined structures growing in the distance.

* * *

Today was not a good day to be Ruby Rose, first she had been told that teams would be formed ON THE FIRST DAY! Then she found out that she would be spending the next four years with whomever she made eye contact with. Lastly she was thrown into the middle of Emerald forest far away from her sister and Jaune. 'Wait why did I think of Jaune?' she wondered before images of his beautiful two handed sword reappeared. It was a beautiful blade…NO enough, time to focus. 'Gotta find Yang, Gotta find Yang!' she thought, about to activate her Semblance when a familiar voice stopped her.

"Hello Ruby," greeted an oddly reverberating female voice.

The reaper spun around to see a familiar black masked Cat Faunus drop down from the trees above her and jumped back in shock, her hand instinctively reaching for Crescent Rose before she realised who it was and relaxed.

"Blake! Awesome! What are the odds of us being partners!?" cheered the reaper with a happy expression.

"Indeed, it must be fate," replied Blake, her hand resting on Gambol Shroud.

"So…any idea where we're supposed to be going?" asked Ruby, skipping over to Blake, happy to be partner with someone who seems nice.

The Cat Faunus shook her head as she began examining their surroundings, looking for any cameras nearby watching them. "Well don't worry I have an idea," said the oblivious reaper.

"After you then Ruby," nodded Blake as she stepped to the side and gestured with one hand for Ruby to lead.

'I can't see any cameras…I could take her out now. Then use the Death Gate to take her back to Northrend,' plotted the Death Knight, her grip on Gambol Shroud tightening ever so slightly. Even so the Faunus hesitated slightly, memories of Ruby and her sister's welcoming faces smiling at her crossing her mind, before the images faded away as Gambol Shroud's runes glowed ever so softly. Shaking her head Blake walked up behind Ruby before quietly unsheathing her weapon, preparing to take down the reaper's aura with a single powerful attack.

"Ruby? Blake? Hey over here!" shouted another female voice from nearby, causing Blake to quickly sheath her weapon as the pair turned to face the blonde approaching them.

"Yang!" cried Ruby, happily as she rushed over to her sister, Blake hiding her mild frustration and…something else…relief?

Shaking the thoughts from her head the Death Knight walked over to the blonde and nodded to her, "Yang Xiao Long."

"So Yang…you've got a partner yet?" asked Ruby with curiosity evident on her face.

"Unfortunately," replied Yang as an expression of distaste appeared on her face.

"What do you mean 'unfortunately?' How bad can they be?" question the reaper with a confused frown on her face.

"You have no idea…" sighed the brawler as they saw a familiar white clad girl come into view.

"Where did that brute go?" hissed Weiss, only to freeze as she caught sight of Blake and immediately drew her rapier. " _You_."

"Me," replied Blake, unsheathing Gambol Shroud.

"Now, now, let's put those weapons down. We're not enemies here, if anything we should be working together," reasoned Ruby as she stood between the two fighters and raised her hands.

"I refuse to work with one of _them_ ," growled out the heiress, her weapon still pointed firmly at Blake.

"Weiss, we need to out our pasts behind us. The Grimm are dangerous enough without you two trying to kill each other," said the reaper turning to face the heiress with a frown on her face.

"Very well Ruby," replied Blake, lowering her weapon.

"Weiss lower the weapon," ordered Yang turning to glare at her new partner.

Upon receiving the judging looks from both Ruby and Yang, Weiss growled loudly as she lowered her rapier and stormed off, "Fine! But I've got my eye on you _criminal_!"

The team of four just continued through the forest in silence, the two sisters trying to ignore the glares Weiss was shooting at Blake. The silence was so deafening that not even the usually bold and blusterous blonde wanted to risk breaking it and eventually they came across ruins with chess pieces now standing on the pedestals.

"Chess pieces? That's the relics?" blinked Yang in confusion.

"How…eccentric," commented Weiss with a frown.

"Wonder what they are for?" questioned Ruby.

"Probably used to decide teams," guessed Blake, looking at the matching chess pieces on opposite ends of the pedestals.

"I guess we'll take the cute little pony," cheered Ruby as she rushed over the Knight piece.

"Then we'll take the Rook," replied Weiss, not wanting to be on the same team with Blake.

"The what?" questioned Ruby.

"THE CASTLE YOU IGNORANT DEUNCE!" shouted the exasperated heiress.

"Oh…castles are cool too," mumbled Ruby in a soft voice as Weiss stormed over to the chess piece.

"Too late Ice Queen, I have the pony right here," informed Yang with a smirk, causing Weiss' eyes to widen as she spun to face her partner.

"YOU WHAT!" she screamed in rage and disbelief.

"Why would I give up the chance to be on a team with my adorable baby sister?" smirked Yang as she held up the Knight piece before embracing her sister in a tight hug.

"YANG! I'm not a kid anymore, I drink milk," exclaimed Ruby, puffing her chest out with pride.

"Well look who showed up," said a male voice as they all turned to see a familiar blonde Knight emerge from the forest.

"Jaune!" yelled Ruby, waving her hand as her eyes subconsciously being drawn to the sword on his back.

"Jaune, it's good to see you…I don't suppose you still have room for a partner," greeted Weiss with a hopeful expression on her face.

"I'm afraid you're a tad late Weiss," answered Pyrrha, appearing besides Jaune with a satisfied smile on her face.

"Pyrrha? I see, congratulations to you two. You will make quite the duo," sighed the heiress, her last chance at escape going up in smoke.

"Just because you aren't our partner doesn't mean you won't be on this team," encouraged Pyrrha, getting a nod of agreement from Jaune.

"Unfortunately, thanks to my damnable partner I'm afraid it is," sighed the heiress, looking longingly at the Rook.

Jaune followed her gaze and nodded as he walked over to the piece, "A Rook huh? Good choice."

"Awe I wanted to be Queen of the castle…" cried a sad voice.

Everyone turned to see a girl clad in pink standing on top of a collapsed Ursa staring at the dead Grimm with a sad expression on her face, "awe it's broken."

"Umm…if you don't mind me asking, what were you doing with that Ursa?" asked Yang, getting a grin from the pink girl.

"Riding it of course silly," she explained as if it was the most obvious thing in the world.

"Right…" trailed off the blonde brawler.

"Nora, don't ever do that again," begged a green clad boy as he emerged from the woods, only to see Nora had disappeared and was now in front of the last Rook piece.

"There's another CASTLE. IT'S MINE!" she shouted, cradling the chess piece before bursting into song.

"NORA!" exclaimed the tired boy.

"Coming Ren," replied the girl as she gave a clumsy salute and walked over to him, leaving their silent observers still in their clueless state.

"Well they are certainly an odd pairing aren't they?" muttered Weiss with raised eyebrows.

"To each their own, I guess," replied Pyrrha with a shrug.

"You know I thought this initiation would be a lot more difficult. All we encountered were a couple of Grimm," frowned Yang as the group made their way out of the ruins.

"Let's hope that it stays that way, no sense going to look for trouble when we just need to return to the cliff," replied Jaune, getting nods from everyone else present.

* * *

"The last of the teams have been formed Headmaster…far too quickly for my liking. We haven't got much data to analyse their leadership and combat abilities," frowned Glynda as she watched the new team RWBY and JNPR head back to the cliffs.

"Indeed, I expected more Grimm to show up. There was a Giant Nevermore and Death Stalker living nearby the relic site. They should have emerged to fight the trainees. Instead we got Beowolves and the occasional Ursa," agreed Ozpin with a frown.

"Speaking of which, over the past few days Grimm activity has dropped immensely and more advanced Grimm have been seen leaving their territories for places unknown," replied the combat instructor.

"Salem is marshalling her forces," concluded Ozpin with a frown.

"For what?" mused Glynda with a frown on her face.

"I don't know Glynda, but I believe it has something to do with Mr. Arc, it cannot be a coincidence that a descendant from that family shows up and suddenly Salem begins panicking. Lordaeron was the only place she considered an actual threat after all," informed the Headmaster, his eyes narrowing on the Runeblade on Jaune's back.

There was something about that sword that was off, it was powerful, but it was also unlike anything he had felt before. "It's hard to believe that Lordaeron isn't a myth after all, how could people just forget about a Kingdom like that?" sighed Glynda.

"Our world is called Remnant for a reason Glynda, much of its history has been lost to time, stories of different coloured dragons fighting for supremacy, demons of green fire, titans of great power shaping worlds, long-lived forest dwelling elves preying on any unfortunate enough to enter their forbidden woods, powerful wizards, green skinned berserkers, men cursed into Beowolves, cities made from magic, the list goes…the Grimm are only the latest chapter to be added to humanity's struggles for survival," replied Ozpin in a distant tone as he stared out over Emerald Forest.

"And what if Mr. Arc has nothing to do with it?" asked the professor.

"The we assume Salem knows something we don't and take appropriate measures…after all anything that can spook the Queen is not something to take lightly. Send a message to Qrow, tell him to keep an eye out for anything unusual," he ordered before shutting off his scroll and heading back towards the school

"Yes Headmaster," nodded Glynda as she followed after him.

* * *

It was team JNPR's first day of classes after the initiative and together with team RWBY they were heading over to their first class. Thankfully neither team had asked Jaune or Blake how they were able to get up so early, or why they constantly felt so cold…

His two new teammates whom he had learned were called Nora and Ren seemed to be polar opposites of each other. Ren was the more dangerous of the two, he was quiet, intelligent, and always observing everything around him. He could have proved to be a problem for Jaune if it wasn't for his partner Nora constantly distracting him.

'Those two are clearly close, if Ren ever becomes a problem I'll just kill Nora then raise her. I doubt he could bring himself to harm his 'not-together-together' childhood friend,' plotted Jaune as he moved his gaze off the green boy and onto Nora. If there was one word he would use to describe Nora it would be…hyperactive. She was constantly zipping around the room and yet never too far from Ren, and made up stories that even caused Jaune to blink in amazement at. Putting the thoughts to the side the Lich King was about to enter the classroom after his team when Weiss stopped him at the entrance.

"Excuse me Jaune, may I have a word with you?" asked Weiss, just as the teams were about to enter the classroom.

The rest of the teams looked at him before continuing into the classroom as he gave them a nod, leaving the Lich King alone with the heiress. "Sure Weiss, what can I do for you?" he greeted, keeping a warm welcoming smile on his face.

Weiss was silent for a moment before she sighed and turned to look at him in the eyes, "Yang said that you were friends with Blake...is that true?"

'That damned blonde!' growled out Jaune, knowing full well where this conversation was going.

"I wouldn't exactly call us close friends. We both grew up in the same village, then she left for a couple of years. Once she came back we both found out we were travelling to Beacon and so partnered together," he lied, trying to clear himself of any suspicion in the heiress' mind.

It seemed that she bought his response as the heiress nodded and continued, "Jaune how well do you know Blake?"

"I suppose better than most would," he replied after a short pause.

"Tell me, did you know where she got that mask?" pressed Weiss, eagerly leaning forwards.

"No. She had it when she returned. Why is that important? It's just a mask," asked Jaune with a shake of his head.

"No it's not. That mask is an exact match to a known White Fang leader, Adam Taurus, he has caused my family no end of grief ever since he rose to power," she explained, making a very real frown appear on Jaune's face.

"Weiss…what you're suggesting…" he warned, causing the heiress to flinch at his tone but remain firm.

"I know, but his followers are known to copy him, wearing masks to hide their faces as a symbol. Jaune, Blake is a member of the White Fang," she concluded, making the Lich King take a deep breath before replying.

"Or a former member. Maybe she abandoned them to start anew as a Huntress," he argued, remembering what Blake had planned to do after the Northrend expedition.

"Or maybe she's just here as a spy!" shot back the heiress.

'She's not wrong,' he thought, slightly impressed even as Weiss' face gained an ashamed expression as she turned away.

"Sorry, I…I shouldn't have acted like that, it was unbecoming of a Schnee," she replied in an ashamed voice, only to stop as she felt an ice cold hand on her shoulder and turned to see Jaune smiling at her with a comforting smile.

"You're still human Weiss, regardless of your upbringing. I'm not going to blame you for feeling emotions," reassured Jaune, causing the heiress to blink in surprise as she suddenly felt extremely hot throughout her body.

"Thank you. I appreciate that," she mumbled, her face gaining a light red tinge.

Jaune saw this but didn't mention it as he continued, "As for Blake's past…if you feel that strongly about it then it only makes it more important to get closer to the rest of your team."

"What do you mean?" asked Weiss in confusion.

"Weiss, I'm going to trust you. If you think Blake was a member of the White Fang, I'll buy it for now. But we need proof. So until then we'll stick close and keep careful watch of her. Besides if she truly has fooled Ruby and Yang then it's your job to protect them from her," replied the Lich King, the heiress' eyes widening before she nodded with a determined expression on her face.

"You're right, I really appreciate this Jaune, I'll make it up to you. I promise," swore Weiss and for the first time since arriving at Beacon, there was a happy smile on her face.

"Don't mention it Snow Angel, just promise me that if you do find out something you'll tell me first before anyone else. We'll both confront her about it before getting the others involved," dismissed Jaune with a smile and a wave of his hand.

"O-of course," stuttered out the blushing heiress before walking into the classroom, not seeing the satisfied smirk that briefly appeared on Jaune's face as he followed her back in.

As Jaune took his seat he noticed that he was one of the few who was actively looking forward to history class, this way he could learn about all the events that had passed during his slumber without compromising himself. Unfortunately, his enthusiasm to learn died fairly quickly as he struggled to keep up with the rapid talk of his teacher Dr. Oobleck. Although he will admit it did feel slightly nostalgic, reminding him off back when he was a student under the family's top scholar Kel'Thuzad.

"While some of you don't seem to appreciate this class, let me assure you. The lessons History can teach us can save us from making the same mistakes that others have made. In short, if you don't learn from History you are doomed to repeat it," warned the teacher in a soft tone, only to be interrupted by a soft laugh coming from Jaune.

"Mr. Arc, is there a problem?" questioned Oobleck as he rushed around the room to appear in front of the Lich King.

Jaune just shrugged as he met the Doctor's gaze, "forgive me Doctor, but I just found what you said about history to be amusing."

"And why is that?" frowned the teacher as he took a sip from his mug of coffee.

"Because history as you know it is wrong, imperfect…flawed. Why should we bother to learn about something that is wrong?" replied the blonde teen, no one saying a word as they stared between the teacher and his student.

"Tell me Mr. Arc, what makes you say that?" shot back the professor with a raised eyebrow.

In response Jaune shrugged again, "I just enjoy watching history warp as words pass from the lips of one to the ears of another. Imperfectly formed, half understood…and _poorly remembered_."

The Lich King then continued as a soft smirk grew on his face, "I mean just look at the Kingdom of Lordaeron. In the years since its fall the story of Lordaeron has been twisted and bent, hammered like soft metal. By some accounts, a Kingdom that sacrificed itself so that the others could be saved, but by others…"

It seemed that Jaune's voiced had gained a cold tone as he continued, "a victim of _treachery_ , betrayed by its closest allies and left for dead. History is written by the victors Doctor, and dishonor can be covered up by success."

"But despite this, some people will always remember the truth won't they Mr. Arc?" argued the teacher, seeming to examine Jaune with his eyes, as if the boy was a new species.

In response to this the Lich King gained another smirk and leaned back in his chair as he replied, "your truth, at least Doctor Oobleck."

Upon hearing this the Doctor's eyes widened and he let go of the mug for the first time as the teacher's frown deepened. "Not many humans know of the Kingdom of Lordaeron, I'm impressed Mr. Arc you must be quite the scholar," he congratulated, before walking over to the class blackboard.

"Since Mr. Arc brought it up, I believe this is a good place to start our lesson. Now how many of you know of the Kingdom of Lordaeron?" asked the teacher, only to see Jaune, Blake and the majority of the Faunus students present raise their hands.

Seeing this the teacher nodded, "I expected as much, would one of our Faunus brethren please give the class a brief overview of the now destroyed Kingdom."

"The Kingdom of Lordaeron is something of a legend among the Faunus, it was supposedly a Kingdom that existed many years ago," explained a rabbit Faunus, getting an encouraging nod from the Doctor, whom gestured for her to continue.

Unfortunately, the rabbit Faunus wasn't used to this amount of attention and as the entire class turned to gaze at her, she sank into her seat and grew quiet. Seeing this Blake spoke up, drawing everyone's attention as she lowered her hood, revealing her mask and cat ears, and continued the tale.

"Legends say that this Kingdom was something of a Utopia, a beautiful land of peace and prosperity, where humans and Faunus could co-exist, until it was destroyed by the Grimm," informed the Cat Faunus with her oddly reverberating voice.

"Good reddens, that's what they deserved," scoffed a buff brown haired boy, only for everyone to feel the temperature in the room drop several degrees as, unnoticed to anyone, both Blake and Jaune's eyes glowed a smoky blue before dissipating.

"Back when the White Fang was a protest group they used the Kingdom of Lordaeron as a symbol, a way to show that peaceful cooperation was possible. But like all things in Remnant, the legend of Lordaeron, has been lost to time, and to this day no one knows if it was ever real or not," concluded Blake, turning back to the teacher.

"Very good Ms. Belladonna," congratulated the teacher as he began writing page numbers on his blackboard.

"Now I want everyone to turn to these pages, your homework is to read them and afterwards give me a report on whether or not you think Lordaeron was real," ordered Oobleck, preparing to end the lesson when a male voice spoke up.

"Why should we learn about this debacle of an excuse for a Kingdom? If the ruling family was so weak that they let those filthy animals in, then they weren't worthy of their position. Probably why they were destroyed by Grimm so easily, trusting the damned Faunus to protect them," scoffed the same boy from earlier.

"What did you say?" growled Jaune, his soft voice somehow echoing across the classroom and causing everyone to turn and face him.

"Just that it might be easier to train an animal, but that doesn't mean they're stronger than a good strong _human_ solider. Any human ruler would know that the Faunus are only thieves and weaklings, the only thing they're good for is labor in the Schnee mines. So clearly the reason for the fall of this Kingdom rests solely with the ruling family," smirked the boy, and everyone heard the pencil in Jaune's hand snap in two.

"What's your name?" asked the Lich King in a quiet tone.

"Cardin Winchester, first born of the Winchester family," boasted Cardin as his chest puffed out in pride.

Jaune nodded his hand as he stared at the boy in his eyes before nodding, "Cardin Winchester…I will remember that name."

Despite himself Cardin had a shiver run down as for a brief moment he could have sworn that he was staring into the face of Death itself. The rest of the class passed without incident as Cardin tried to calm his rapidly beating heart, after all what could that scrawny blonde ever do to him? Nothing right? So why did it feel like he might have made a terrible mistake?

For his part Jaune just made a mental note to have Adam place the Winchester family on a list of immediate White Fang raid targets, and to leave no survivors. As this thought crossed his mind he felt the familiar probing of Kel'Thuzad poking at his mind. ' _Milord, your Death Knight has just come up with an idea that you'll want to hear,'_ he announced, causing Jaune to frown as he listened and struggled to keep a satisfied smile off his face.

* * *

Today was meant to be just a normal day for Raven, simply raid this village, take everything not nailed down and move out before the Grimm showed up. They had done it a hundred times, each of them knew their part to play. It should have just been a normal raid for them…this was not how it was supposed to turn out.

Everyone was silent, the townsmen, the bandits, and most importantly Raven, as they stared at the oddly looking Atlesian warship hovering above the town, it's weapons glowing as they began powering up. 'Atlesian military? What are they doing in Sanus? The Vytal festival is months away,' frowned the tribe leader as she realized the threat now posed to her group.

Upon seeing the Atlesian airship, the townsmen gave a cheer as the airship descended towards the village, thanking every God in existence for their savior's timely arrival. "Everyone retreat!" yelled Raven, realising that their tribe could not afford the casualties required to bring the behemoth down.

Upon hearing her command, the tribe ceased their fighting and looting as they rushed towards the bridge, only to see the one exit out of the village be disintegrated by the weapons from the airship. The massive bridge might have been well-fortified to repel Grimm attacks but it was never designed to take that magnitude of firepower and so Raven's eyes widened as she saw the exit just collapse.

The cheer from the townspeople died down as they stared at the bridge in shock, realising they were now trapped with the murderous bandits. 'That's not normal Atlas rules of engagement, they would never cause destruction like that, those idiots always try to keep collateral damage to a minimum,' frowned the red eyed woman behind her mask.

The tribe leader then frowned as she began looking for an alternate route to escape, unfortunately Perch, like most villages outside the Kingdoms, was built into the side of a cliff with a massive drop separating it from the mainland. The bridge had been the only way to cross this chasm as a way for the villagers to protect themselves from the Grimm and now that had been destroyed.

"Everyone get back to the village, Atlas won't fire if the civilians could be caught in the cross fire!" she ordered, causing the tribe to rush back into the town and once again engage the townsmen in combat.

'The only way any of us are getting out of here now is by commandeering that airship,' she thought, her eyes narrowing as she began searching for the airship's cockpit as it continued its descendant towards the village. Suddenly the airships cargo doors opened and Raven's eyes widened as she saw multiple odd looking Grimm leapt out and land in the middle of their battle.

"What the? GRIMM! Forget the villagers focus on the Grimm!" she yelled, as the terrified villagers began rushing towards the nearest building to hide.

Her tribe immediately spun as they found themselves trapped between the cliff and Grimm, retreat no longer being an option. "Why did Grimm come from the Atlas warship? What is it even doing here!" shouted one of her tribesmen.

"Salem, what have you done now?" muttered Raven in a quiet voice as she cut down a Beowolf that got too close.

Suddenly Raven felt a spike of pain from her leg and looked down to see the Beowolf she had just bisected had clamped its jaw around her leg, using its claws to slash at the offending limb. The bandit didn't have time to question how the Grimm was still 'alive' as she decapitated the already bisected Beowolf.

However, Raven didn't have time for a respite as she heard a loud thud and turned to see some kind of Atlesian mechs dropping from the airship, their metal chassis' glowing with runes and two bloody symbols painted on each respective shoulder. The left shoulder had some kind of symbol she didn't recognize while the symbol on the right made her eyes widen, it was the symbol of the White Fang.

Shortly after this she saw numerous Bullheads emerge from the airship and drop troops in White Fang uniforms into the town, slaughtering villages and bandits alike even as the oddly looking Grimm ignored them. 'No not ignoring them, these Grimm are _helping_ them…what is going on here?!' she realised with a horrified expression.

"Everyone form up on me, I'll make a portal to the airship. We need to commandeer it if we want to survive!" she shouted, getting nods from her surviving tribesmen as they surrounded her.

"A Portal user huh? You would be incredibly useful in spreading the plague. Forgive me but I can't allow you to leave just yet," spoke a calm icy cold male voice, startling Raven as chains of ice wrapped around her as she tried to make a portal.

Seeing this her tribesmen immediately tried to break her free of these chains, only to be blasted back by a wall of sickening green energy. Raven couldn't move as she saw a white skeletal creature, a bull Faunus and a host of hooded Faunus approaching her. The Bull quickly grabbed the sword from her hand as he approached before trapping it under his foot. The skeletal creature nodded at this before turning to face her surviving tribesmen and without a word, he and his hooded entourage raised their hands as a sickening energy began flowing into their hands before rushing out towards her kinsmen.

Raven watched with a horrified expression as the last of her tribe just collapsed to the ground, their already drained aura from the fight to take the village as well as fight off the Grimm, unable to hold off the attacks.

The Lich then nodded as he turned to his students, "very good, you're beginning to understand how to direct the necrotic energy. Begin raising the villagers, we'll need them as our workforce later."

"Yes master," they all replied with a bow before walking off, leaving her alone with the two apparent leaders of this army.

Raven said nothing as she stared at her destroyed tribe, watching as numerous hooded White Fang members began moving along the corpses, as if appraising them. The tribe leader then had her jaw drop as she watched one of the White Fang members chant something and a ball of unholy energy formed in her hand before being thrust into the corpse of one of villagers. The corpse seemed to jolt as if being defibrillated and Raven could only blink in horror as she saw the villager slowly get up from the ground, only there was something off with them.

Its movements were too jerky, as if it was a puppet being pulled along by strings and their eyes now glowed the same faint blue as the Grimm. Raven was silent as she watched this scene repeat itself with hundreds of others, until there was a horde of Undead villagers standing still and silent, waiting for orders.

"What is this?" gasped the tribe leader, only to look up as a soft chuckle echoed from the skeletal Lich.

"Our new workforce, don't worry, your bandits won't be delegated to simple labor. They are fair too skilled to waste on such menial tasks," replied the Lich, causing Raven to growl in fury as she struggled to break the chains binding her.

"If you dare touch my people, I swear to Oum…I will hunt you down and kill you, your friends and your family," she snarled protectively.

"The strong live, the weak die. Isn't that your tribe's 'rules?'" scoffed Adam, getting another growl from the trapped Raven.

The Death Knight then grabbed her head before forcing her to watch as the bodies of her comrades were stacked up by the silent Undead before being carried into the now landed airship. "Look at them! You failed your people! They belong to us now. How does it feel? To see that all your hard work has been for nothing? To see everything, you've built be torn down before your very eyes?" commented the smug Death Knight.

Raven was silent as she watched the last of her people get carried into the airship before the single survivor of the tribe looked up at her captors in sorrow and a soft voice echoed out from her, "why?"

"I told you, we needed to test our forces against a talented enemy without the Kingdoms finding out about us. Your tribe was the most logical target," replied the Death Knight.

Raven didn't even struggle as she watched the Lich begin floating over to the corpses of her tribesman, before beginning the ritual to raise them as Death Knights. "That's not what I meant. Why are you doing this?" questioned the tribe's leader, her voice barely heard over the sound of the Lich and his new students beginning their chanting.

"Does it matter? You'll find out once you serve us," replied the Death Knight with a shrug.

"Over my dead body," she snarled before struggling to break her icy prison with no success.

"That's the idea…" muttered the Faunus in a distant voice, clearly distracted by something.

The leader of the bandits watched as Adam flinched and began gripping his head as if in pain, once again the runes on his weapon glowing softly as he eventually straightened out and returned to normal. 'What was that?' thought Raven in confusion as she saw the Lich immediately halt his ritual and float over to the two of them.

"Is everything alright Death Knight? You appeared to be in distress," asked the Lich, turning to face the Adam and causing the Death Knight to frown as he nodded.

"Just…a bad memory, nothing more Lich," he replied, fingering Wilt and Blush with a calm familiarity.

Raven frowned but remained silent as she tried to struggle out of her binds, seeing Adam's foot now off her sword. 'If I can reach it, then I can escape…but they'll notice me doing it. I need a distraction, something to drawn their attention,' she thought, calmly waiting for an opportunity as she looked around the village.

Then she saw it…the glowing red eyes of the creature that had somehow been following them all the way from Anima, peering out through the edge of the darkened woods surrounding Perch. She had no idea why it was following her tribe so doggedly, she had no idea how it happened to cross the ocean to Sanus…but right now Raven didn't care.

In any other time, this would have been disastrous for her and the tribe, they would have been trapped inside the village, taking massive casualties to drive the creature off before they looted the town and moved on. Leaving their pursuer to destroy whatever was left of the village afterwards. 'I just need to wait for it to distract them,' she thought before reaching out to her blade, grasping it as she waited for the two to be distracted.

"There's something you should know about my tribe, monsters," smirked Raven, causing both Kel'Thuzad and Adam to turn to face her with a frown.

"And what is that?" scoffed the Lich, only for them all to hear a loud terrifying screech echo from the nearby village entrance.

"We attract negativity," she smirked before using their distracted states to grab her blade and slash at the ice binding her to the ground.

Neither of the two could do anything as Raven swiped her sword down and created a portal before rushing through it. Adam roared in fury as he tried to follow her, only for the portal to close while his hand had just passed through it, completely severing the limb from his body as he howled in pain. Kel'Thuzad said nothing about their quarry's escape and instead turned to the other end of the broken bridge of the village.

There emerging from the forest was a horde of Grimm, obviously drawn to the village by the negativity caused by both the bandits and Scourge. This was expected by them both and had already been taken into account. What neither commander of the Scourge had expected to see though was the Horseman like Grimm leading the horde as it let out another horrifying screech.

"What Grimm is that? I've never seen anything like it before," murmured one of the newly formed Cult of the Damned member.

"It's a Nuckelavee. A very rare and powerful Grimm, they can single handedly destroy a whole village. They were nearly as bad as Grimm Dragons, and were responsible for the deaths of most of the Ruling family of Lordaeron," lectured the Lich, seemingly unconcerned by the creature before him as he watched it and the horde pace at the other end of the chasm.

"It would be a powerful pawn of the Scourge," whispered a Faunus in awe, walking up to their Undead teacher.

Kel'Thuzad nodded in agreement, "indeed Deathweaver, unfortunately we don't have time to waste killing it. With its presence here, Salem will know of our location and likely try to eliminate us before we can reach the safety of Northrend. Finish packing up the corpses, I'll raise the bandits later as Death Knights once we've returned to Icecrown Citadel."

"Understood master," replied the Deer Faunus, bowing as she raced to begin the evacuation procedure.

"What about the Bandit leader?!" growled out Adam in a furious tone, as he glanced down at the stump of his arm in hatred.

"We don't have the time to track her down, besides she's a leader of bandits that have plagued the Kingdoms for years, correct? If she tries to warn them she would just arrested on sight, hardly a threat to us," replied the Lich as he stared at the still unmoving Nuckelavee, the Grimm meeting his icy stare with a hate filled one of its own. "Beside we have more important things to worry about."

"Relax Lich, the Grimm are trapped at the other end of the bridge," replied Adam, the Death Knight still glaring at his missing limb in anger.

'If I ever find her again…I'll make sure to return the favour tenfold,' he thought in sadistic glee, before the runes on his weapons glowed and just as quickly the anger left the Death Knight, his mind returning to its previous calm state as the rune's glow died down.

Suddenly as if hearing the Death Knight's response, the Nuckelavee once again screeched and everyone was silent as they saw the horde of Grimm begin throwing themselves against the cliff face. At first the Scourge forces were confused by this display before Kel'Thuzad's eyes widened slightly as he realised what they were doing.

"Grimm are never this intelligent unless… _She's_ found us…Everyone prepare for battle!" he ordered, both mentally to his servants and out loud.

Upon hearing this swarms of Undead instantly rushed towards frontlines, their recovering of bodies completely forgotten as they rushed to battle. Necrotic energy began swirling around the bodies of the newly minted Necromancers as the modified Paladin mechs rushed to join the coming battle. The remaining White Fang all formed firing lines behind the wall of war machines and Undead as they loaded their rifles and the Atlas flagship above them began taking potshots at the aerial Grimm attacking it.

Kel'Thuzad watched as a massive portion of the cliff face was broken off from the repeated assault, the massive pillar of rock and earth collapsing towards the village. The Scourge forces scattered as the pillar fell across the chasm and the Lich watched as the Grimm rushed over their newly formed bridge. The Nuckelavee gave another screech as it charged with its brethren, the Grimm's eyes never leaving Kel'Thuzad as the Lich's hands began glowing with magical power.

And so, unknownst to the Kingdoms, the first battle between two of the most powerful factions in all of Remnant began…

* * *

The Huntsman sighed before collapsing into his seat at the town's local bar, exhausted from another day of fruitlessly searching for some clues on Amber's attackers. Still at least he knew that Salem had her own powerful pawns, one of which had some sort of illusion based Semblance, judging from how he was unable to see the faces of Amber's attackers. That in itself was useful information to possess.

However, the Huntsman was snapped out of his thoughts as the barmaid walked over to him and placed a glass of what looked like some kind of scotch on his table, causing his eyes to narrow in suspicion. "I didn't order this," informed Qrow as he stared at the scotch that had been placed on the table.

The waitress just smirked, "a woman upstairs paid for it. Red eyes. She wanted me to tell you, 'On the morrow he will leave me, as my hopes have flown before.'"

Qrow's eyes widened before he examined the drink on his desk, the waitress gave him a confused blink as the Huntsman lifted the alcohol up to eye level and a soft murmur escaped him. "Nevermore," he whispered before standing up and heading to the upstairs, his hand hovering over his scythe warily as he spotted the familiar figure at the back of the room.

* * *

 **Omake: The Incompetent King**

"Are there any questions?" asked Ozpin.

"Yeah, um, sir?" asked Jaune, raising his hand.

"Good! Now, take your positions," replied the Headmaster, ignoring the question as students were begun to be launched into the forest below.

"Uh, sir? I've got, um... a question. So, this landing... strategy thing... Uh, wha-what is it? You're, like, dropping us off or something?" continued the confused Arc.

"No. You will be falling," answered Ozpin.

"Oh, uh, I see... So, you have a net or something waiting for us at the bottom?" frowned the Lich King.

"No. You will be using your own "landing strategy," informed the Headmaster and suddenly the anxious expression vanished from Jaune's face as an understanding expression grew on his face.

"So just to clarify we can use any method at our disposal to get to the relics?" he asked, getting a nod from the Headmaster.

"Indeed, good luck," replied Ozpin as he watched Jaune get launched into the air, screaming at the top of his lungs.

"Sometimes I love my job," sighed the Headmaster as he took a sip from his coffee, only to be blasted back by a large gust of wind.

Looking up both he and Glynda's jaws dropped as they saw a massive skeletal dragon break free from the forest and rush up towards them. "Hey Headmaster! I got all the relics, did I pass?" shouted a familiar male voice and the two teachers saw Jaune waving at them from atop his mount, all the chess pieces in his hand.

Jaune and his dragon then flew towards the school to wait for the other applicants, both the teachers flinching as they heard screams of fear and horror coming from the students seeing the decayed Dragon flying above them.

"Glynda…was that Mr. Arc riding a skeletal dragon?" asked the stunned Ozpin.

"Yes Headmaster," replied the equally stunned combat instructor.

"Glynda…was he carrying all the relics with him?" he continued.

"Yes Headmaster," repeated Glynda.

"I see…" trailed off Ozpin as he turned to look at his coffee mug. "I think I need to switch to decaf…"

"Yes Headmaster," finished Glynda as the two teachers tried to ignore the cries coming from their school.

Kel'Thuzad suddenly grew depressed once again, "why do I feel like our centuries of keeping the Kingdoms in the dark about our existence has suddenly been wasted?"

The Lich then shook the thoughts from his head, not even his King would be incompetent enough to do that? Surely? Right? Why didn't he feel very confident about that?

"I think I made a bad choice, picking serving him over a peaceful death. At this rate I'm going to die of depression long before the enemies attack…" he muttered, briefly debating breaking his phylactery.

* * *

 **Sorry about the Incompetent King, I really couldn't think up much for it this time around. Next time should be better. Anyway if I missed any of your questions let me know and I'll PM you the answers.**


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